Sei Investments Co. Boosts Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 139.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 289,804 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,019 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $6,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 12,993 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 83,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 52,500.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 4,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

FLO stock opened at $23.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.17. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 162.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FLO shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

About Flowers Foods

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.