Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stake Increased by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 54.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 446,900 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 157,000 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.21% of Flowers Foods worth $9,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 530,057 shares of the company's stock worth $10,951,000 after acquiring an additional 197,779 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth $246,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,500,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,003,000 after buying an additional 48,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 285,005 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 46,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, Director George E. Deese acquired 6,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at $33,764,031.60. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FLO shares. 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:FLO traded down $0.14 on Thursday, reaching $16.89. 1,183,048 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,258,016. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.28 and a 52-week high of $23.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.84 and a 200-day moving average of $19.34.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. The company's revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.86%. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.67%.

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.