Wellington Management Group LLP Takes Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 51,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,067,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,767,000 after buying an additional 518,745 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,521,000 after acquiring an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,829,000 after acquiring an additional 428,963 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,219,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,205,000 after acquiring an additional 60,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,476,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,004,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,764,031.60. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FLO. Truist Financial lowered 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. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of 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 lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $16.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,461,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,710,941. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.29 and a 12 month high of $23.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm's fifty day moving average is $17.48 and its 200 day moving average is $19.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.34.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 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.