Cooke & Bieler LP Sells 13,185 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,502,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,185 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.71% of Flowers Foods worth $33,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $5,018,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 184.8% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 184,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,085,000 after purchasing an additional 119,501 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 93.2% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 472,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,486,000 after purchasing an additional 228,063 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 113.8% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 343,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,619,000 after purchasing an additional 182,806 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 10,660.1% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 272,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 269,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total transaction of $845,294.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,721.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Flowers Foods news, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total transaction of $845,294.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,721.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,330 shares in the company, valued at $478,771.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 11.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FLO. StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,594,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,062,492. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 42.38, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.39. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.64 and a 1-year high of $29.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.