Kestra Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Key Points

• Kestra Investment Management LLC invested approximately $329,000 in Flowers Foods, acquiring 17,300 shares in the first quarter.
• Total institutional ownership of Flowers Foods is significant, with 75.45% of shares held by institutional investors.
• Flowers Foods announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2475, which yields 6.6% annually, with a payout ratio of 95.19%.

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 17,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,392,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,548,000 after acquiring an additional 4,011,428 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in Flowers Foods by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,612,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,694,000 after acquiring an additional 159,460 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,782,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,902,000 after acquiring an additional 307,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Flowers Foods by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,756,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,392,000 after acquiring an additional 14,389 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report 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, 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $54,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,994 shares in the company, valued at $254,910. The trade was 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 available through the SEC website. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of FLO traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.76. The company had a trading volume of 5,499,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,518,695. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $15.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.29. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.75 and a 1 year high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The firm's revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. 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 year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Flowers Foods's 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.