Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,299,631 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 428,963 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.04% of Flowers Foods worth $88,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FLO. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $276,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 642.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 98,335 shares during the last quarter. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $9,261,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 174,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,596,000 after purchasing an additional 86,510 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $825,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FLO. DA Davidson decreased their price objective 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 cut their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $17.25. 2,375,592 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,537,576. 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's 50 day moving average is $18.49 and its 200 day moving average is $20.08. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.21 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.57%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

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.