Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Takes $3.01 Million Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 159,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,013,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 worth $469,767,000 after acquiring an additional 518,745 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 28.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,829,000 after purchasing an additional 428,963 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $58,476,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FLO. 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 lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.25.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,133.68. This represents a 7.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired 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 owned 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 bought a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE FLO opened at $16.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.74 and a fifty-two week high of $23.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.78 and a 200-day moving average of $18.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 18.91%. 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 previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.05%. This is an increase from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.