Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has decreased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. by 5.0%, reducing its ownership to 932,576 shares valued at approximately $17.7 million.
• Various institutional investors, including Charles Schwab Investment Management, significantly increased their positions in Flowers Foods, indicating ongoing interest in the company.
• Recent analyst ratings show a trend towards "hold" ratings for Flowers Foods, with target prices set between $15.00 and $16.00, reflecting caution in the market's outlook.

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 932,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,191 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.44% of Flowers Foods worth $17,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.3% during the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 191,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,636,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 1.0% during the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Flowers Foods by 2.0% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.3% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 60,566 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,433 shares of the company's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.76. The stock had a trading volume of 5,499,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,517,567. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $15.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.75 and a 12 month high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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