Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Sold by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lowered its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,357 shares of the company’s stock after selling 630 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $90,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FLO. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,907,000 after buying an additional 242,797 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,971,000 after acquiring an additional 259,216 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,720,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,592,000 after purchasing an additional 160,794 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,008,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,327,000 after purchasing an additional 58,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,104,000 after purchasing an additional 520,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $19.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.98 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.21.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.21%.

About Flowers Foods

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.