Brucke Financial Inc. Invests $363,000 in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Brucke Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,668,000. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 39,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 9,317 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 663,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,711,000 after buying an additional 77,640 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 462,205 shares of the company's stock worth $9,549,000 after buying an additional 183,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Flowers Foods by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 446,900 shares of the company's stock worth $9,233,000 after acquiring an additional 157,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.92. The company had a trading volume of 4,067,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,659,581. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.79 and a 200 day moving average of $19.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $16.29 and a one year high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Flowers Foods news, Director George E. Deese bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at $774,133.68. This represents a 7.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FLO shares. DA Davidson cut 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.25.

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.