BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 94.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,227 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 87,654 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.09% of Flowers Foods worth $4,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter worth about $711,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 267.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 204,371 shares of the company's stock worth $4,537,000 after purchasing an additional 148,753 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 429,014 shares of the company's stock worth $9,897,000 after purchasing an additional 99,599 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,147,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,469,000 after buying an additional 18,852 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 99.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 181,926 shares of the company's stock worth $4,039,000 after buying an additional 90,587 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of FLO traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.27. 1,554,428 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,193,335. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50-day moving average is $22.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.64. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.20 and a 12 month high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. Flowers Foods's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 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.