Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.75.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of FLO traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.42. 1,073,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,181,970. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.83, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods has a 12-month low of $19.64 and a 12-month high of $29.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.42% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.25 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 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total value of $845,294.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $987,721.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total transaction of $845,294.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $987,721.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $117,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $478,771.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 11.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 247,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,879,000 after acquiring an additional 24,192 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at about $4,644,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.5% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 166,773 shares of the company's stock worth $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter worth about $709,000. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,422,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

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.