Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,219,943 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,867 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.00% of Flowers Foods worth $87,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $42,591,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,066,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,033,000 after buying an additional 67,750 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 919,272 shares of the company's stock worth $18,992,000 after acquiring an additional 16,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 886,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,312,000 after acquiring an additional 32,320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.23. 263,698 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,513,593. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $18.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. 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 announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. On average, research 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a 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 on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

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.