Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Trims Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 247,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,838 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $5,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Brooklyn Investment Group increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 622.5% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $18.47 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.46. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.33 and a 52 week high of $26.12. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FLO. StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced 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 report on Monday, February 10th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

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.