Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 2.08% of Flowers Foods worth $90,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 76,140 shares of the company's stock worth $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 22,776 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 75,167 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,000 after purchasing an additional 32,631 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 110,258 shares of the company's stock worth $2,278,000 after buying an additional 9,179 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,631 shares of the company's stock worth $88,829,000 after buying an additional 428,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Flowers Foods by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,753,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,878,000 after buying an additional 221,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FLO. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE FLO traded down $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $17.61. 438,527 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,517,628. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $18.58 and a 200-day moving average of $20.15. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. Flowers Foods's dividend 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.