Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Short Interest Update

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,820,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the September 30th total of 3,480,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter worth about $59,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 7,694.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 264.0% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 2,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $22.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.08. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 157.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on FLO shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.75.

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.