Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,820,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the September 30th total of 3,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FLO. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position 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 worth $129,907,000 after buying an additional 242,797 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 73.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company's stock worth $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.2% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,623,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,631,000 after purchasing an additional 54,757 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 65.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company's stock worth $29,104,000 after purchasing an additional 520,661 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $22.08. 1,232,134 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,151,766. Flowers Foods has a fifty-two week low of $19.64 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12. The business's 50-day moving average is $22.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.36.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 2.51%. Flowers Foods's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 162.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FLO. StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.75.

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.