SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 87,495 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 77.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,142 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,495 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 88.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 8,587 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 96,072 shares of the company's stock worth $1,985,000 after buying an additional 9,942 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 50,406 shares of the company's stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 38,174 shares of the company's stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 16,639 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock traded up $0.11 on Thursday, reaching $16.02. 2,412,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,772,530. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.74 and a twelve month high of $23.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 0.34.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 91.67%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 532,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. This represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director George E. Deese bought 6,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,004,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,764,031.60. This represents a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. Insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

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.