Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO Shares Sold by Martingale Asset Management L P

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P has significantly reduced its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. by 51.8%, now holding 30,856 shares valued at approximately $587,000.
• Several hedge funds have also made notable adjustments to their positions, with Canada Pension Plan and Point72 Asia acquiring new stakes, while MassMutual Private Wealth and UMB Bank increased their holdings dramatically.
• Flowers Foods declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share, translating to an annualized payout of $0.99 and a yield of 6.5%, with a high payout ratio of 95.19%.

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 51.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,856 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,218 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,437,735 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,392,872 shares of the company's stock worth $159,548,000 after purchasing an additional 4,011,428 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 813,886 shares of the company's stock worth $16,815,000 after purchasing an additional 469,652 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Flowers Foods by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,631 shares of the company's stock worth $88,829,000 after purchasing an additional 428,963 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 3,837.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 342,067 shares of the company's stock worth $6,503,000 after purchasing an additional 333,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE FLO traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.05. The company had a trading volume of 2,272,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,887. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.74 and a fifty-two week high of $23.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.32. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $15.89 and its 200 day moving average is $17.18.

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. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 95.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Flowers Foods

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.