Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $8.36 Million Investment in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,058,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,360,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at $640,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth $88,000. Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $97,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $392,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $570,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Flowers Foods news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.51 per share, with a total value of $37,550.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,458,291.80. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FLO. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $7.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of FLO opened at $7.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $6.80 and a one year high of $15.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.31.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 1.06%.The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Profile

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.