Inspire Investing LLC Purchases 1,634 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,460 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 105,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 9,626 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 642.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 98,335 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $1,077,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,461,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $19.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.90 and a 1-year high of $26.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.04.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. 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 business posted $0.29 earnings per share. Flowers Foods’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 84.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

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.