Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stake Lessened by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,211 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,211 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 622.5% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE FLO traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $18.39. The company had a trading volume of 154,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,515,217. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.61 and a 200-day moving average of $20.26. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.33 and a 1 year high of $26.12. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 82.05%.

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.