Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 555 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC cut its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 555 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 1.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 586,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,519,000 after purchasing an additional 7,844 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 238,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after buying an additional 40,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 85.0% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 33,480 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:FLO opened at $18.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.69. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 82.05%.

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.