Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $12.06 Million Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 583,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,058,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% in the third quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 8.6% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $18.46 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.99 and a 1-year high of $26.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

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.