Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 61,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FLO. WealthCollab LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% in the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 225.6% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.4% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 262.9% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 140.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,768 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. 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 report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.60.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO opened at $8.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96 and a beta of 0.39. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.80 and a 12 month high of $16.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 142.86%.

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.