Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Acquired by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,177 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the first quarter worth $2,224,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 247,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,879,000 after buying an additional 24,192 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at $711,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at $4,644,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 267.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 204,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,537,000 after acquiring an additional 148,753 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $22.49 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.86 and its 200-day moving average is $23.03. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.64 and a 12 month high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 157.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on FLO shares. StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.75.

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.