Bridgewater Associates LP Decreases Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 52.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,773 shares of the company's stock after selling 154,109 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.07% of Flowers Foods worth $3,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company's stock worth $129,907,000 after purchasing an additional 242,797 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 73.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,623,017 shares of the company's stock worth $102,631,000 after purchasing an additional 54,757 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,720,302 shares of the company's stock worth $82,592,000 after acquiring an additional 160,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,008,103 shares of the company's stock worth $46,327,000 after buying an additional 58,141 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.62. 694,541 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,492,390. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.44 and a 200-day moving average of $22.69. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS 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 paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

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.