Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Buys 42,000 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares during the quarter. Flowers Foods comprises 0.9% of Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Flowers Foods worth $3,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,216 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,008,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,327,000 after buying an additional 58,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 854,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,702,000 after buying an additional 12,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 586,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,519,000 after buying an additional 7,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $12,460,000 after buying an additional 248,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FLO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson cut their target price on 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, StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $18.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.65. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.99 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. 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.