Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $8.48 Million Stock Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 382,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,107 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.18% of Flowers Foods worth $8,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2,247.7% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

NYSE:FLO opened at $23.05 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.64 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.36.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 162.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FLO. StockNews.com raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.75.

Flowers Foods 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.