Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 177,525 Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 177,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,668,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Flowers Foods as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, Director George E. Deese bought 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.84 per share, for a total transaction of $101,040.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. This represents a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 532,476 shares in the company, valued at $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of FLO traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.92. The company had a trading volume of 4,067,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,658,037. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $16.29 and a one year high of $23.87. The company's fifty day moving average price is $17.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.26.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. The company's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.85%. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target 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. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

Flowers Foods 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.