Cooke & Bieler LP Purchases 159,460 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

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

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 191,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,636,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.0% in 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 boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,433 shares of the company's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.8%

FLO traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,126,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,883,263. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.31 and a 12 month high of $23.87. The business's fifty day moving average price is $16.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.91. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is currently 91.67%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.88 per share, with a total value of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,861 shares in the company, valued at $774,133.68. This trade represents a 7.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 532,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,009,493.92. This represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 over the last 90 days. 11.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FLO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th.

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.