Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE FLO opened at $21.58 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $20.50 and a twelve month high of $26.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.36.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 4.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,907,000 after buying an additional 242,797 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 73.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,623,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,631,000 after purchasing an additional 54,757 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Flowers Foods by 4.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,720,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,592,000 after purchasing an additional 160,794 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 65.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,104,000 after purchasing an additional 520,661 shares in the last quarter. 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.