Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 58,767 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 229,675 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,767 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.11% of Flowers Foods worth $4,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $245,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on FLO. 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 lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a 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 an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,185,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,518,817. 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 company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50 day moving average price is $18.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.33. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.33 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.26%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 82.05%.

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.