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

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

Flowers Foods Stock Up 3.3%

FLO stock traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.02. The company had a trading volume of 3,081,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,631,743. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.29 and a 1 year 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.

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 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 quarter 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 company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.82%. This is a positive change 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 currently 91.67%.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 617.3% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 904.8% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,253 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.25.

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.