Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,670,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the January 15th total of 9,600,000 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE FLO traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $18.53. The company had a trading volume of 1,431,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,964,370. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.73. Flowers Foods has a 12-month low of $18.34 and a 12-month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.18%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 84.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FLO. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.