Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Buys 2,785 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,185 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $12,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $330,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 281,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,822,000 after buying an additional 29,049 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 37,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 4.1 %

NYSE:FLO opened at $19.40 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.33. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.99 and a 52 week high of $26.12. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 82.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FLO shares. DA Davidson cut 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. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.