Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 5,437,735 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 270.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,449,240 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,437,735 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 3.53% of Flowers Foods worth $141,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $531,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 177,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 44,812 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 6,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 162,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $16.59. 2,448,151 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,416,629. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $15.27 and a one year high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 4.49%. The company 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 posted $0.38 earnings per share. Flowers Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 91.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.