Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Shares Purchased by Voloridge Investment Management LLC

Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 462,205 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 183,276 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Flowers Foods worth $9,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FLO. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,191 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 112,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 8.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FLO shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE FLO traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 766,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,132. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.29 and a 52 week high of $23.87. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $17.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.31.

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

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be 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 of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.87%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at $774,133.68. This trade represents a 7.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,764,031.60. This represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 over the last quarter. 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.