Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 736,624 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Flowers Foods worth $229,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $163,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 76.1% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 11,087 shares in the last quarter. Hestia Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Hestia Capital Management LLC now owns 180,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 131.9% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 43,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 24,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,270.0% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 170,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 157,671 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. This trade represents 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 this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FLO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $11.17.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 1.8%

FLO stock opened at $8.42 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.86 and a twelve month high of $17.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.25.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 247.50%.

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.