Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $22.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.82. Flowers Foods has a 12-month low of $20.50 and a 12-month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. Flowers Foods’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 73.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 65.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,104,000 after purchasing an additional 520,661 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the second quarter valued at about $10,392,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,971,000 after buying an additional 259,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 85.4% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 540,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,460,000 after buying an additional 248,800 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.