Coston McIsaac & Partners Grows Stock Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 195,820 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,828 shares during the quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners owned approximately 0.09% of Flowers Foods worth $4,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,154,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,993,000 after purchasing an additional 63,002 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,148,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,533,000 after acquiring an additional 84,001 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 56.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 111.6% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 3,356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO remained flat at $22.46 during trading on Wednesday. 61,653 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,154,379. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 38.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.64 and a twelve month high of $26.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.00 and a 200 day moving average of $23.11.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Flowers Foods’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 162.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on FLO shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.75.

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.