54,000 Shares in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 54,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,216,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,583,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,749 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,815,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,259,000 after buying an additional 64,119 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Flowers Foods by 0.4% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,232,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,336,000 after buying an additional 5,207 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Flowers Foods by 2.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,173,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,033,000 after buying an additional 32,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,082,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,361,000 after buying an additional 425,988 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on FLO. StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.00.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total value of $845,294.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,740 shares in the company, valued at $987,721.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total value of $845,294.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,740 shares in the company, valued at $987,721.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $478,771.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 11.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $24.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.64 and a 52 week high of $29.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.34.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 158.62%.

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.