Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Trading Up 5% – Time to Buy?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s share price was up 5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $19.57 and last traded at $19.58. Approximately 646,621 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 2,007,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Flowers Foods Trading Up 4.2 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.40 and a 200 day moving average of $21.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.38.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FLO. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 4.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 8.6% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in 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 period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.