Dividend.com: Flowers' Payout Blooms

Flowers Foods Raises Dividend by 17%

Bakery products maker Flowers Foods(FLO Quote) said Friday that it is increasing its quarterly dividend payout by 17%. The Thomasville, Ga., company announced a new dividend payout of 17.5 cents per quarter or 70 cents annually.

This hike represents a 17% increase over the previous quarterly payout of 15 cents per share and the sixth consecutive year the company has increased its dividend. The dividend will be payable July 2 to shareholders of record as of June 19. Flowers Foods shares rose 30 cents or 1.4% in morning trading Friday.

We had removed shares of Flowers from our "recommended" list back on Aug. 14 when the stock traded at $31.97. The company will now have a dividend yield of 3.37% based on the higher dividend payout and last night's closing stock price of $20.80. The stock is nearing technical support at the 52-week lows of $20.

If that fails to hold, we see the next area of support in the $14 to $17 price area. If the shares can rebound here, we see overhead resistance around the $24.50-26.00 levels. We like the dividend increase, but we would remain on the sidelines for now. Flowers holds a Dividend.com DARS Rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.

Dell First-Quarter Net Falls 63% as Sales Slump Continues

Personal computer-maker Dell(DELL Quote) said late Thursday that its first-quarter profit plunged 63% from the previous year, hurt by lagging PC sales, but cost cuts helped the company beat Wall Street profit estimates.

The Round Rock, Texas, company reported first-quarter net income of $290 million or 15 cents a share, down from $784 million or 38 cents per share in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time restructuring charges, the company posted adjusted earnings of 24 cents per share while overall revenue fell 23% from last year to $12.3 billion. On average, Wall Street analysts expected net income of 22 cents per share on higher revenue of $12.6 billion.