Invesco Ltd. Grows Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 12.4%, owning approximately 2.78 million shares valued at about $52.9 million, according to the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have also modified their holdings in Flowers Foods, with notable increases by LPL Financial, Bank of Montreal, and Sterling Capital Management.
• Flowers Foods announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.2475 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 6.3% and marking a rise from its previous dividend of $0.24.

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,782,856 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 307,614 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.32% of Flowers Foods worth $52,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FLO. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,240 shares of the company's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 5,225 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 11,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,119 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 112,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 32,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 2.5%

FLO traded up $0.3940 on Friday, hitting $15.8840. The company had a trading volume of 824,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,644. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.34. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.27 and a 12-month high of $23.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.32.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. 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. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 95.19%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden bought 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 532,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. This represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director George E. Deese bought 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.84 per share, for a total transaction of $101,040.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,004,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,764,031.60. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. Insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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