New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 30,700 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 371,498 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.18% of Flowers Foods worth $7,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the third 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 period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 642.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,637 shares of the company's stock worth $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 98,335 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 85.0% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,886 shares of the company's stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 33,480 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2,156.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 136,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 130,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,461,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.76. 2,253,250 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,024,035. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.38. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.99 and a 52 week high of $26.12. The company's 50 day moving average price is $19.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is 82.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FLO shares. Truist Financial lowered 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. DA Davidson reduced their target price on 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.