Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $20.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $22.12 and a 200 day moving average of $22.48. Flowers Foods has a 12 month low of $20.51 and a 12 month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 52,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

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.