Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) CEO Sells $1,678,270.00 in Stock

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $1,678,270.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. This trade represents 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 at this link.

Ryals Mcmullian also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 2nd, Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total transaction of $2,271,830.00.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE FLO traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $8.24. 3,371,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,127,581. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.86 and a 1-year high of $20.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 0.39. 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 (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 247.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 129.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $726,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,060.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 171,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 157,106 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Stephens set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.80.

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.