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

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,354,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,022,869 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.64% of Flowers Foods worth $265,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 23.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 730,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,672,000 after acquiring an additional 137,131 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 267,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,281,000 after acquiring an additional 99,744 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 179,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 38,653 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,830,000. Finally, Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 703,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,411 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Stephens set a $11.00 target price on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $9.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71 and a beta of 0.33. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.44 and a 1-year high of $20.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.06.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 1.59%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.0%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 247.50%.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total value of $2,271,830.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,022,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,113,270.60. This represents a 16.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.