Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,988 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 88.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 287,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,636,000 after acquiring an additional 135,111 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 642.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,637 shares of the company's stock worth $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 98,335 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 105,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 9,626 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 19,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,191 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE FLO traded up $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.85. 344,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,192. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.29 and a 12-month high of $23.87.

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

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 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.