Norges Bank Acquires New Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,992,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,680,000.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,531,441.40. This trade represents a 20.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $7.64 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.80 and a twelve month high of $16.95. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 0.40.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 1.38%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 282.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FLO. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Stephens reduced their price target 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. Weiss Ratings cut Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Company 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.