Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stock Position Lifted by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 209,254 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,648 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of Flowers Foods worth $4,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company's stock worth $469,767,000 after acquiring an additional 518,745 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Flowers Foods by 11.1% during the 4th 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 raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 60,867 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,476,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:FLO traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,000,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,684,857. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.14. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.29 and a 1-year high of $23.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. Flowers Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.96%. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, Director George E. Deese acquired 6,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.84 per share, for a total transaction of $101,040.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,004,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,764,031.60. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.88 per share, with a total value of $50,640.00. Following the completion of 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.