Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Acquired by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 163.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 266,153 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 165,085 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.13% of Flowers Foods worth $5,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,767,000 after buying an additional 518,745 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock worth $90,521,000 after purchasing an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,631 shares of the company's stock worth $88,829,000 after purchasing an additional 428,963 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,219,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,205,000 after purchasing an additional 60,867 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,476,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 45,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $774,133.68. This trade represents a 7.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director George E. Deese bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,764,031.60. This represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 over the last 90 days. 11.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE:FLO traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $15.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,755,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,816,987. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.66 and a twelve month high of $23.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.67%.

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.