ICW Investment Advisors LLC Trims Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 813 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 56,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 88,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 3,702 shares during the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 85,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 73.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,694,000 after buying an additional 2,239,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 784.9% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 5,659 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE FLO traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.52. The company had a trading volume of 47,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,352. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 162.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FLO. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.75.

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.