Armistice Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 37,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $839,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.00.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In other news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $117,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $478,771.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Flowers Foods news, Director Edward J. Jr. Casey purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.55 per share, for a total transaction of $117,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $478,771.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Terry S. Thomas sold 36,577 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total value of $845,294.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $987,721.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:FLO traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.18. 1,005,181 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,247,403. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business's 50-day moving average price is $24.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.01. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.64 and a 1 year high of $26.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Flowers Foods's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 155.93%.

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.