Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Holdings Boosted by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 125.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,717 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,882 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 801,335 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,556,000 after buying an additional 118,583 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $1,067,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 160,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 25,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $87,205,000 after purchasing an additional 60,867 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE FLO opened at $16.23 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.27 and a 1-year high of $23.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.09 and a 200-day moving average of $17.59. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.32.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,004,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,764,031.60. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 532,476 shares in the company, valued at $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440. 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.

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