Insider Buying: Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Director Buys 3,000 Shares of Stock

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of FLO stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.92. 4,067,397 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,658,037. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.29 and a 12-month high of $23.87. 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's 50-day moving average price is $17.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.85%. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 91.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WBI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 1st quarter valued at about $592,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 10,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 744,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,157,000 after buying an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 150,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,859,000 after buying an additional 14,476 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 976,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,562,000 after buying an additional 65,258 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Company 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.