New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 134,918 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 455,114 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 134,918 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.22% of Flowers Foods worth $10,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FLO. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 5.1% during the third quarter. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,800 shares of the company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 46.4% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,539 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 5.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,505 shares of the company's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 57,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 7.4% in the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 11,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson started coverage on Flowers Foods in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

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

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $25.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,046,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,282. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 43.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $19.64 and a one year high of $29.10. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.51.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.42%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.62%.

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.