Cwm LLC Trims Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Cwm LLC lessened its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 18.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,893 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,371 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 617.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 904.8% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on 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 lowered Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:FLO opened at $15.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.73. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.27 and a 52-week high of $23.87. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.33.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 91.67%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, Director Thomas Caldecot Chubb III acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.88 per share, with a total value of $50,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 45,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,133.68. The trade was a 7.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 532,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 acquired a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

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.