Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Sold by Southeast Asset Advisors LLC

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,102,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 283,184 shares during the quarter. Flowers Foods makes up approximately 7.9% of Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $64,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 5,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FLO. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO opened at $18.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.69. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.05%.

Flowers Foods 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.