Virtu Financial LLC Invests $276,000 in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,008,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,327,000 after acquiring an additional 58,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 886,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,312,000 after acquiring an additional 32,320 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 586,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,519,000 after acquiring an additional 7,844 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,058,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.9 %

Flowers Foods stock opened at $18.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 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.