Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124,865 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,191 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.06% of Flowers Foods worth $2,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 617.3% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.76. 2,882,901 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,848,233. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.54 and a 200 day moving average of $18.09. 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 $15.46 and a 52-week high of $23.87. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is 91.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director owned 532,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director George E. Deese acquired 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 in the last 90 days. 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.