Flowers Foods announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, an increase of 6.3% over the same quarter last year. This is the 59th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company and is payable on June 23, 2017 to shareholders of record on June 9, 2017. This action increases the annualized dividend rate to $0.68 per share from $0.64 per share at this time last year.

"Our board and management team believe Flowers' strong cash generation supports increasing the dividend and enhancing shareholder return, even as we position our company for continued value creation," said Allen L. Shiver, Flowers Foods' President and CEO. "We continue to execute on Project Centennial to transform Flowers Foods into a more powerful branded food company, while generating substantial cash flow that strengthens our financial position and funds strategic growth initiatives, capital improvements, dividends, and share repurchases."