BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 180,227 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,654 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.09% of Flowers Foods worth $4,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.2 %

FLO stock opened at $22.47 on Thursday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.20 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

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.