Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 7,094 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,094 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 39.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 75,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after buying an additional 21,118 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $711,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,147,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,469,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 52,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $20.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.59 and a 1 year high of $26.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 84.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

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.