Wendell David Associates Inc. Sells 2,025 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Wendell David Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,025 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth $52,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $19.89 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.05 and a 200-day moving average of $22.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $18.90 and a one year high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.21%.

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.