Bridgewater Associates LP Lowers Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 65.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,688 shares of the company's stock after selling 92,085 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew 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 valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 622.5% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.7 %

FLO stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.99. The company had a trading volume of 286,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,816. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.61 and a 200 day moving average of $20.24. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.33 and a 12 month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.34%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FLO shares. DA Davidson dropped 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.