Millennium Management LLC Trims Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 56.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 306,746 shares of the company's stock after selling 395,138 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.15% of Flowers Foods worth $6,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 622.5% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,627 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 532,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.84 per share, for a total transaction of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,004,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,764,031.60. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FLO. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,067,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,659,001. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.29 and a 1 year high of $23.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Flowers Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.85%. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 91.67%.

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.