Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Has $10.88 Million Stock Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 526,806 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,994 shares during the period. Flowers Foods comprises about 0.9% of Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Flowers Foods worth $10,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.5% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 86,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,126,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 416.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,831,000 after acquiring an additional 203,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 23.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FLO opened at $18.52 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.99 and a 12-month high of $26.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.18%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson reduced their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective 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. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

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.