Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Stock Price Up 5% – Here’s What Happened

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s stock price shot up 5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $19.57 and last traded at $19.58. 646,621 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 2,007,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on FLO shares. 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 4.1 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.34.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Company 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.