Ieq Capital LLC Takes Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 72,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 542.5% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 3,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 225.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 176.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 151.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 140.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $7.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $7.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35 and a beta of 0.40. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.80 and a 52 week high of $15.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.27.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 192.31%.

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.