Flowers Foods Boosts Dividend By 10%

Flowers Foods Inc. said Thursday it will increase its quarterly dividend by 10% to 16 cents a share. The packaged bakery foods company's new dividend will be payable June 23 to shareholders of record on June 9. Based on Wednesday's closing price of $18.33 for the stock, the new annual dividend of 64 cents a share implies an annual dividend yield of 3.49%, compared with the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.16%, according to FactSet. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 15% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.3%.