Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 25,299 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,871 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 25,299 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.08% of Flowers Foods worth $3,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $1,379,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,067,000. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 161,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 3,637 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 6.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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Flowers Foods Price Performance

FLO traded down $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.33. 1,610,101 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,516,338. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.33 and a 1 year high of $26.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $18.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.42.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given 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 dividend yield of 5.24%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

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.