GAMMA Investing LLC Has $729,000 Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 780.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,343 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,986 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 112,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,314,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Flowers Foods by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company's stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,200 shares of the company's stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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 decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 532,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:FLO traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.88. 3,660,779 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,754,151. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.64. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.74 and a 12 month high of $23.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.34. 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 (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Flowers Foods's revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given 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 dividend yield of 6.24%. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.67%.

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.