Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 906,388 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,946,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 906,388 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 5.18% of Flowers Foods worth $259,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 2,247.7% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.20.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.37. 1,045,464 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,096,030. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 37.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.36. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $26.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 162.71%.

Flowers Foods 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.