Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 88.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 287,625 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,111 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.14% of Flowers Foods worth $6,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $711,000. Thomasville National Bank boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 30.2% in the third quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 429,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,897,000 after acquiring an additional 99,599 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 94.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 180,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,158,000 after purchasing an additional 87,654 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the third quarter worth about $1,571,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,147,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,469,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $20.75 on Thursday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $26.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Flowers Foods 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.