PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 1,453 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,092 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 3.0% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 28,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth about $208,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 26,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 6,572 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 25th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $22.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.63, a P/E/G ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.64 and a twelve month high of $26.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $23.76 and its 200 day moving average is $23.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. This is an increase from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 162.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey acquired 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $117,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,771.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.42% of the company’s stock.

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.