Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $12.95 Million Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. by 16.7%, acquiring an additional 97,657 shares to own a total of 681,294 shares valued at approximately $12.95 million.
• Flowers Foods recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.30, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenues of $1.24 billion, although falling short of forecasted expectations.
• The company declared a dividend of $0.2475 per share, to be paid on September 19th, providing a yield of 6.6%, with a dividend payout ratio of 95.19%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 681,294 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 97,657 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.32% of Flowers Foods worth $12,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 0.3% in the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 191,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,636,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 60,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,433 shares of the company's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 0.7% in the first quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 162,701 shares of the company's stock worth $3,093,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FLO. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target 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 reduced their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of 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 set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

NYSE:FLO traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.75. 970,337 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,495,980. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.64 and a 1-year high of $23.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.19%.

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.