Edgestream Partners L.P. Raises Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 68.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 495,568 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 201,635 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned approximately 0.23% of Flowers Foods worth $9,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,742,145 shares of the company's stock worth $35,993,000 after buying an additional 314,670 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $276,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $9,261,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 174,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,596,000 after purchasing an additional 86,510 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth $825,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, Director George E. Deese acquired 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 45,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $774,133.68. This trade represents a 7.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock traded down $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $15.55. 2,811,731 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,873,953. The firm's 50 day moving average is $16.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.98. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $15.37 and a one year high of $23.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.33. 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 issued its 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 return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 4.49%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. Flowers Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 91.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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.

Flowers Foods Company 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.