Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Short Interest Update

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,670,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the January 15th total of 9,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FLO. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report 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 lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.27 on Monday, hitting $18.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,431,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,964,370. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $18.34 and a twelve month high of $26.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.38.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.18%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% during the third quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 3.4% in the 4th 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.