Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $2.31 Million Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Squarepoint Ops LLC reduced its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,886 shares of the company's stock after selling 63,228 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.05% of Flowers Foods worth $2,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 446,900 shares of the company's stock worth $9,233,000 after acquiring an additional 157,000 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Flowers Foods by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 530,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,951,000 after acquiring an additional 197,779 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $246,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,500,620 shares of the company's stock worth $31,003,000 after acquiring an additional 48,527 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLO has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director George E. Deese acquired 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.84 per share, for a total transaction of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of FLO stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $16.60. 3,407,243 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,664,982. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $17.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The company 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 91.67%.

Flowers Foods 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.