Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Takes $3.01 Million Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 159,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,013,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Flowers Foods at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,767,000 after purchasing an additional 518,745 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,521,000 after acquiring an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Flowers Foods by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,631 shares of the company's stock worth $88,829,000 after purchasing an additional 428,963 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,219,943 shares of the company's stock worth $87,205,000 after acquiring an additional 60,867 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,476,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE FLO traded up $0.09 on Friday, reaching $16.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,678,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,813,218. The company's fifty day moving average is $16.72 and its 200 day moving average is $18.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.74 and a 52-week high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS 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 last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 91.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FLO. 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 report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 532,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 45,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $774,133.68. The trade was a 7.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 over the last ninety days. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.