Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Sets New 12-Month Low - Here's What Happened

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $20.10 and last traded at $20.10, with a volume of 209 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FLO. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,907,000 after buying an additional 242,797 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 73.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company's stock worth $117,694,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239,592 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,216 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Flowers Foods by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,720,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,592,000 after purchasing an additional 160,794 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,008,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,327,000 after purchasing an additional 58,141 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.