Brown Advisory Inc. Increases Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,563 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,266 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.08% of Flowers Foods worth $3,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,476,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,591,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock worth $90,521,000 after acquiring an additional 965,097 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,475,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,138,000 after acquiring an additional 623,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $12,058,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,559,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,985. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year high of $23.87. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $16.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.36%. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 532,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

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.