Keynote Financial Services LLC Invests $224,000 in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,583,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,749 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $26,016,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 293.7% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 782,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,614,000 after acquiring an additional 583,749 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $11,518,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,082,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,361,000 after buying an additional 425,988 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 25th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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 raised their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.20.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

FLO traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.05. 1,188,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,278,412. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.08. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $26.33.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. This is an increase from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.