SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 77.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,142 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,495 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 112,027 shares of the company's stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,433 shares of the company's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company's stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,200 shares of the company's stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $16.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,164,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,759,794. 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 of $17.07 and a 200-day moving average of $18.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden purchased 3,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 532,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

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.