Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 784,301 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 17.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,838,716 shares of the company's stock after selling 784,301 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 1.82% of Flowers Foods worth $88,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,224,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 1st quarter worth about $2,422,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 247,530 shares of the company's stock worth $5,879,000 after purchasing an additional 24,192 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $711,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at about $4,644,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FLO shares. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.75.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.32. The company had a trading volume of 868,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,587. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $26.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.98 and a 200 day moving average of $23.09.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm 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%. The company's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 157.38%.

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.