Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Buys 109,303 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 546.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 129,322 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,303 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Flowers Foods worth $1,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of FLO opened at $7.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.80 and a fifty-two week high of $17.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.85.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors 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 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 282.86%.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 7.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on FLO. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $9.60.

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.