Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 2,660 Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,224,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,422,000. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $839,000. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 3,276,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,755,000 after purchasing an additional 125,761 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth $26,016,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO opened at $23.62 on Tuesday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.64 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 2.51%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 162.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FLO. StockNews.com raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

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.