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

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a decrease of 8.9% from the May 15th total of 2,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of FLO traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.48. 1,288,810 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,223,999. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.12. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $19.64 and a twelve month high of $26.33. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 162.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 25th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.00.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,330 shares in the company, valued at $478,771.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $5,018,000. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $839,000. Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $321,000. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 3,276,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,755,000 after purchasing an additional 125,761 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $26,016,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently 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.