Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Position Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 450,199 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Flowers Foods worth $8,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,742,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,993,000 after buying an additional 314,670 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $276,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $9,261,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 174,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,596,000 after buying an additional 86,510 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $825,000. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

FLO stock opened at $15.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.09. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.46 and a 52 week high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 4.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.67%.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 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 $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 532,476 shares in the company, valued at $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.