Oak Thistle LLC Buys Shares of 52,123 Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 52,123 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,077,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,819 shares of the company's stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.9% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,728 shares of the company's stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 5.6% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 8.6% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE FLO traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,928,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,897,406. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.39. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.90 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $21.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.15.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.99%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Flowers Foods Profile

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.