Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 468,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,144 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 0.22% of Flowers Foods worth $10,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted 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 worth $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $26,016,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 293.7% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 782,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,614,000 after buying an additional 583,749 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $5,751,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 4.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,907,000 after acquiring an additional 242,797 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $23.44 on Monday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $19.64 and a one year high of $26.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.17.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 162.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FLO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.