Short Interest in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Declines By 14.2%

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,721.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,721.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $117,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $478,771.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 11.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 28.1% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 12,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake 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 valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 10,676 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at $539,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 4,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake 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 valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $22.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 39.51, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $22.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.27. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $29.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The company 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%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.62%.

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.