American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has reduced its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. by 34.9%, selling 65,942 shares and now owning approximately 0.06% of the company valued at $2.3 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes, with Charles Schwab Investment Management raising its position by 270.3% during the same period, indicating strong interest from large investors.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets for Flowers Foods, with a current consensus target price of $15.33, reflecting a cautious outlook on the stock's performance.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 34.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,030 shares of the company's stock after selling 65,942 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.06% of Flowers Foods worth $2,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 270.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,449,240 shares of the company's stock worth $141,610,000 after acquiring an additional 5,437,735 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 813,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,815,000 after purchasing an additional 469,652 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3,837.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 342,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,503,000 after purchasing an additional 333,379 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,134,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,742,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,993,000 after purchasing an additional 314,670 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $14.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,246,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,497,390. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $15.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.29. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.60 and a 1 year high of $23.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Flowers Foods 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.