102,050 Shares in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 102,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,940,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Flowers Foods by 617.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.84 per share, for a total transaction of $101,040.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,764,031.60. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden purchased 3,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 532,476 shares in the company, valued at $9,009,493.92. This represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

FLO stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,660,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,151. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.74 and a 52 week high of $23.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.64.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its 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 4.49% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Flowers Foods's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were 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 6.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.25.

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.