Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 333,379 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 3,837.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 342,067 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 333,379 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.16% of Flowers Foods worth $6,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,476,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $42,591,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,521,000 after purchasing an additional 965,097 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,475,242 shares of the company's stock worth $51,138,000 after purchasing an additional 623,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $12,058,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 532,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 in the last 90 days. 11.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,819,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,783,710. The business's fifty day moving average price is $16.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.43. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82 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, Inc. has a one year low of $15.74 and a one year high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. 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 report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

About Flowers Foods

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.