Norges Bank Makes New $42.59 Million Investment in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,061,536 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,591,000. Norges Bank owned 0.98% of Flowers Foods as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 259,216 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth $276,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 642.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 98,335 shares during the last quarter. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth $9,261,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33,480 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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Flowers Foods Stock Up 3.8 %

NYSE:FLO traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $18.32. 2,643,658 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,506,379. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.37 and a twelve month high of $26.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.74 and a 200 day moving average of $20.54. 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 earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.