Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases New Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired 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 acquired 143,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,730,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.07% of Flowers Foods at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,767,000 after purchasing an additional 518,745 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 801,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,556,000 after purchasing an additional 118,583 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,591,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 29,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:FLO opened at $16.46 on Wednesday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.27 and a 52 week high of $23.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.20 and a 200 day moving average of $17.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 0.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In other news, Director George E. Deese bought 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,004,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,764,031.60. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $50,640.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 45,861 shares in the company, valued at $774,133.68. This represents a 7.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FLO shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th.

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.