Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases New Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

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

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 617.3% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE FLO traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,678,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,814,393. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.33. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.74 and a 1-year high of $23.87. 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 (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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.02%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 91.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Flowers Foods news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the purchase, the director directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director owned 45,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $774,133.68. This represents a 7.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.