Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 68.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,965 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140,406 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,907,000 after acquiring an additional 242,797 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 73.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,301,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,592 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 4,623,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,631,000 after purchasing an additional 54,757 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,720,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,592,000 after purchasing an additional 160,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,104,000 after purchasing an additional 520,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $22.21 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $19.64 and a one year high of $26.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.91 and its 200 day moving average is $23.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 157.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.75.

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.