Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Has $3.04 Million Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. raised its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 147,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares during the quarter. Flowers Foods accounts for 0.9% of Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $3,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 429,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,900,000 after acquiring an additional 5,035 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.2% in the third quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 195,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,517,000 after acquiring an additional 7,828 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 42.3% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 81,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 24,137 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 2.9 %

FLO opened at $18.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.65. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.99 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FLO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped 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 note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

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.