StockNews.com Upgrades Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) to Strong-Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $21.23 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $21.19 and a twelve month 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.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.