Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires 2,202 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,559 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $3,940,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 43,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 33,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,058,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FLO shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $18.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.12. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.99 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

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.