Short Interest in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Grows By 18.0%

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 12,500,000 shares, an increase of 18.0% from the February 13th total of 10,590,000 shares. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target 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. One equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.1 %

Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $18.25. The stock had a trading volume of 368,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,999,047. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.10. Flowers Foods has a one year low of $17.99 and a one year high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 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 last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date was 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.