Argyle Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Argyle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 67,118 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. VELA Investment Management LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 6,371 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $330,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 38,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 16,639 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 147,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,037,000 after buying an additional 42,000 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 50,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

FLO stock opened at $18.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.53. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.99 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.09%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

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.