Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,781 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,785 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.08% of Flowers Foods worth $3,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $21.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.61. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.20 and a 12 month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

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.