Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Short Interest Down 12.7% in March

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,910,000 shares, a drop of 12.7% from the February 28th total of 12,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.6% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 617.3% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FLO traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.22. 3,734,948 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,480,798. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.94 and a 200 day moving average of $20.77. Flowers Foods has a 1-year low of $17.95 and a 1-year high of $26.12.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.