StockNews.com Downgrades Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.9 %

FLO traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.45. 4,503,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,222,083. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $22.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Flowers Foods has a fifty-two week low of $20.36 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The business 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%. The firm's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 84.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new position in Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter worth $711,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company's stock worth $95,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,216 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank increased its position in 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 buying an additional 99,599 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 94.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 180,227 shares of the company's stock worth $4,158,000 after buying an additional 87,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,571,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.