Holocene Advisors LP Increases Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 163.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,597 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 95,248 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Flowers Foods worth $3,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.32 on Friday, reaching $21.94. 1,367,489 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,194,073. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.37. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $22.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.64. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.20 and a 52 week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.21%.

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.