Vestcor Inc Increases Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Vestcor Inc grew its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 391,465 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $8,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 2.4 %

FLO stock opened at $18.44 on Thursday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $17.99 and a one year high of $26.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.28 and a 200-day moving average of $21.26.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

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.