Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stake Cut by Wendell David Associates Inc.

Wendell David Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,025 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,971,000 after buying an additional 259,216 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 85.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 33,480 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,461,000. Thomasville National Bank boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 429,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,897,000 after purchasing an additional 99,599 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Flowers Foods by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 180,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,158,000 after purchasing an additional 87,654 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $19.89 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.39. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.90 and a 12 month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

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.