Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,201 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,073 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FLO. KBC Group NV increased its position in Flowers Foods by 2,156.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 136,354 shares of the company's stock worth $2,817,000 after buying an additional 130,310 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,191 shares of the company's stock worth $665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 19,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 105,514 shares of the company's stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 9,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE FLO traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.11. 1,557,659 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,002,859. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.85 and a 1-year high of $26.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.38.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 84.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods 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.