Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Trading Up 5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) shot up 5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $19.57 and last traded at $19.58. 646,621 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 2,007,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41. 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 posted 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 return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,767,000 after purchasing an additional 518,745 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,521,000 after acquiring an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,829,000 after acquiring an additional 428,963 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,219,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,205,000 after acquiring an additional 60,867 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,476,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

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.