Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $11.74 Million Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 567,997 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,400 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 0.27% of Flowers Foods worth $11,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 622.5% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $17.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 335,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,513,866. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.33 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $18.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 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.