Bayesian Capital Management LP Buys New Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 24,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 39,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 23,229 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 175,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,956,000 after purchasing an additional 7,022 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 168,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,105 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,583,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,749 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,476,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,224,904. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.64 and a 1-year high of $26.33.

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

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This is a boost from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.