First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,371,965 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 521,670 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $57,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 271.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Flowers Foods by 56.4% in the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens set a $11.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:FLO opened at $8.70 on Wednesday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.61 and a 1-year high of $20.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.57 and a 200 day moving average of $11.70.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.4%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 247.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total value of $2,271,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,113,270.60. The trade was a 16.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.