Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Cuts Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. decreased its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 65.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,301 shares during the quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Flowers Foods by 13.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,371,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,054,000 after purchasing an additional 521,670 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,818,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 139.1% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,295,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499,194 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 249.8% in the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 253,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 181,060 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 1,057.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 343,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,489,000 after purchasing an additional 314,247 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:FLO opened at $8.76 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.56. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.86 and a 52 week high of $18.53.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.3%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 247.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research lowered Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $11.17.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $1,678,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, offering a variety of fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes and tortillas. Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, the company operates an extensive network of bakeries and distribution centers that serve retail grocery chains, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers Foods markets its products under well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Mrs.