Advisors Asset Management Inc. Acquires 104,450 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. by 899.6% during the first quarter, bringing its total shares to 116,061, valued at approximately $2.2 million.
• Flowers Foods announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share, translating to an annual yield of 6.7%, with a payout ratio of 95.19%.
• Analysts have given Flowers Foods a consensus rating of "Hold," with several brokerage firms adjusting their target prices, the latest being $15.00 from Truist Financial.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 899.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,061 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 104,450 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Flowers Foods worth $2,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 617.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 904.8% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,502 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 63.1% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $54,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $254,910. The trade was a 17.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.90. 1,506,105 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,556,048. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.26. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.90 and a twelve month high of $23.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.92.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The firm's revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 95.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.