Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO Shares Bought by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

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

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 617.3% during 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 during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% during 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 during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 904.8% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 63.1% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Monday, August 18th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective 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 cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.2%

Flowers Foods stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $14.81. 4,522,578 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,275,728. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.42 and a 1 year high of $23.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.02.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. Flowers Foods'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, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.