Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Raises Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC significantly increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. by 8,028.8%, acquiring a total of 489,272 shares worth approximately $9.3 million.
• Analysts have downgraded the stock from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, with target prices ranging from $15.00 to $16.00, reflecting a cautious outlook on the company.
• Flowers Foods recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share, yielding 6.6% annually, with a payout ratio of 95.19%.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 8,028.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 489,272 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 483,253 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.23% of Flowers Foods worth $9,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,742,145 shares of the company's stock worth $35,993,000 after purchasing an additional 314,670 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,265,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 163.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 266,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,041,000 after buying an additional 165,085 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 450,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,558,000 after buying an additional 1,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $141,610,000 after buying an additional 5,437,735 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial reduced 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.9%

FLO opened at $15.05 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47 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 one year low of $14.74 and a one year high of $23.87.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 95.19%.

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.

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