Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 248,185 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 423.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 306,848 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 248,185 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned 0.15% of Flowers Foods worth $7,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 73.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,104,000 after buying an additional 520,661 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,392,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 85.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 540,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,460,000 after buying an additional 248,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 4.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,851,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,907,000 after acquiring an additional 242,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of FLO opened at $22.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.36. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $20.50 and a one year high of $26.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.71. 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 (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 84.21%.

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.