Boston Trust Walden Corp Increases Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,583,334 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,238,749 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 2.17% of Flowers Foods worth $103,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. State Street Corp grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 206.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,286,504 shares of the company's stock worth $473,823,000 after acquiring an additional 11,637,370 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,880,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 73.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,383,121 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,211 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,165,440 shares of the company's stock worth $62,235,000 after buying an additional 988,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth $19,875,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:FLO traded up $0.17 on Thursday, hitting $23.31. The stock had a trading volume of 940,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,196,137. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.19, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.27. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.64 and a 1-year high of $29.10.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.42% and a return on equity of 18.15%. Flowers Foods's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $478,771.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey bought 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $478,771.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total transaction of $845,294.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $987,721.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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