AMG National Trust Bank Buys 36,264 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 113.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,292 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,264 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank's holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FLO. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 73.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company's stock worth $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 65.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,104,000 after buying an additional 520,661 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,392,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 85.4% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 540,104 shares of the company's stock worth $12,460,000 after acquiring an additional 248,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in 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 period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE FLO traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.81. 860,656 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,179,903. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.61 and a 200-day moving average of $22.84. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.50 and a 12-month high of $26.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.36.

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. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. Flowers Foods's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.40%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.