Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,219,943 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 60,867 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.00% of Flowers Foods worth $87,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,767,000 after purchasing an additional 518,745 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,591,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Flowers Foods by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,066,470 shares of the company's stock worth $22,033,000 after acquiring an additional 67,750 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 919,272 shares of the company's stock worth $18,992,000 after acquiring an additional 16,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 886,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,312,000 after purchasing an additional 32,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.1 %

FLO traded up $0.21 on Monday, reaching $18.69. 1,587,907 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,515,964. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $17.33 and a one year high of $26.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.46.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.14%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Flowers Foods Company 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.