Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires Shares of 51,651 Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 51,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,067,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.4% during the fourth 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. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $16.72 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.34. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.29 and a fifty-two week high of $23.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $17.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FLO. Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

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.

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