Keene & Associates Inc. Sells 1,024 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Keene & Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,024 shares during the quarter. Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $46,327,000 after buying an additional 58,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 12,481 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.4% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 7,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 85.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 540,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,460,000 after acquiring an additional 248,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:FLO opened at $18.34 on Wednesday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.99 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.