Short Interest in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Rises By 22.4%

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,350,000 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the March 15th total of 10,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days. Currently, 6.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on FLO. DA Davidson dropped their target price 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE FLO traded down $0.30 on Friday, hitting $17.70. The stock had a trading volume of 277,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,119,476. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $17.33 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The business's fifty day moving average price is $18.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.21. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.3% in the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 191,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,636,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,191 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 112,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,314,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.