Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 4,107 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 382,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,107 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $8,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 80.3% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2,247.7% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.75.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of FLO stock opened at $23.05 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.37 and its 200 day moving average is $23.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.36.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 162.71%.

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.