Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Increases Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,185 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,785 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth $52,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,294 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on FLO shares. DA Davidson lowered 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $19.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.33. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.99 and a twelve month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.