Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 14.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 168,000 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares during the quarter. Flowers Foods comprises about 0.8% of Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. owned 0.08% of Flowers Foods worth $3,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $330,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,058,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 43,758 shares of the company's stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 4,933 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 103.5% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 56,833 shares of the company's stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 28,911 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 532,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director George E. Deese acquired 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.84 per share, for a total transaction of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. This represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 in the last quarter. 11.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

FLO traded down $0.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.54. 169,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,417,392. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.98. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $23.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.33. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 4.49%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Flowers Foods's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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 given a $0.2475 dividend. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.67%.

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.

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