Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $19.34, but opened at $20.21. Flowers Foods shares last traded at $19.16, with a volume of 912,185 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,058,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,971,000 after acquiring an additional 259,216 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 85.4% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 540,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,460,000 after acquiring an additional 248,800 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 423.1% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 306,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,079,000 after purchasing an additional 248,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,461,000. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.91.

Flowers Foods Company 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.