Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 259,216 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 6.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 259,216 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $95,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $20.63 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $20.51 and a one year high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

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.