Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Trims Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd decreased its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 51.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,607 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FLO. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $274,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4,819.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 57,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 56,625 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 85.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 33,480 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 20.6% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 238,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 40,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Flowers Foods by 163.2% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 153,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,543,000 after acquiring an additional 95,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $21.21 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.54. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.95 and a 52 week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 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.