Thomas Caldecot Chubb III Purchases 3,000 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stock

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 45,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $774,133.68. This represents a 7.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.11 on Friday, hitting $16.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 878,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,729. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.29 and a 52-week high of $23.87. 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 fifty day moving average price of $17.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, 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 earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Flowers Foods's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.86%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is 91.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at about $592,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 20.5% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 10,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 12.2% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 150,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 14,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 7.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 976,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,562,000 after purchasing an additional 65,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on FLO shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective 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 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.