Cooke & Bieler LP Has $106.69 Million Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,612,523 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 159,460 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 2.66% of Flowers Foods worth $106,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 617.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 904.8% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,502 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,126,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,874,963. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.31 and a 52 week high of $23.87. The business's 50-day moving average price is $16.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28 and a beta of 0.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The firm 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 business's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 6.42%. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.67%.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.88 per share, with a total value of $50,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 45,861 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders purchased a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th.

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.