Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Invests $2.22 Million in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 93,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,224,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at about $246,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 30.3% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 81,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,938,000 after acquiring an additional 18,957 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 32.2% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,128,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,799,000 after acquiring an additional 46,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 723,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,172,000 after acquiring an additional 17,939 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:FLO traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.45. The stock had a trading volume of 969,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,588. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.36. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.64 and a 1-year high of $26.33. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $23.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 162.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 25th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.20.

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.