Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 11.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 639,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 83,542 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $14,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,147,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,469,000 after buying an additional 18,852 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $711,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $251,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 39.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 75,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 21,118 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on FLO shares. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.75.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $23.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.64 and a twelve month high of $26.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 2.51%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 162.71%.

Flowers Foods Company 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.