Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Short Interest Update

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a decline of 14.2% from the March 15th total of 2,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FLO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson started coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 20,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,771.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Flowers Foods news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $117,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $478,771.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 11.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 28.1% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 12,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 22.0% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 59,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after buying an additional 10,676 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the first quarter worth about $539,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 60.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 12,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 4,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 27,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $22.92 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.27. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $29.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.42%. Flowers Foods’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 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.