State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $1.99 Million Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,072 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,942 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

NYSE:FLO opened at $19.41 on Monday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.99 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FLO. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.