Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,600,000 shares, an increase of 28.5% from the December 31st total of 7,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

NYSE FLO traded down $0.02 on Monday, reaching $19.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,081,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,951,347. Flowers Foods has a 52 week low of $18.90 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.97.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Flowers Foods by 171.8% in 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 period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.