New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $4.89 Million Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 212,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,401 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.10% of Flowers Foods worth $4,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 73.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,104,000 after buying an additional 520,661 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,392,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,907,000 after acquiring an additional 242,797 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the first quarter worth $4,644,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.8 %

Flowers Foods stock opened at $22.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.36. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.64 and a 1-year high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 157.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FLO. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.