The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $790,000 in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 100,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 209.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 949,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,054,000 after purchasing an additional 642,942 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 976,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,562,000 after purchasing an additional 65,258 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 150,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after buying an additional 14,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 744,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,157,000 after buying an additional 81,066 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other news, CFO Diego Scaglione acquired 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:FLO opened at $6.30 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.27 and a 12 month high of $15.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.9%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 192.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on FLO. Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price target on Flowers Foods in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.60.

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.