Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 1,093,769 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. by 4.8%, selling 1,093,769 shares and retaining approximately 10.25% ownership, valued at $411.5 million.
• Flowers Foods recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.2475 per share, yielding an annualized 6.3% with a dividend payout ratio of 91.67%.
• Despite reporting earnings per share of $0.30, which exceeded estimates, Flowers Foods saw its stock price decrease by 5.2% amid analyst downgrades and negative market sentiment.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,644,212 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,093,769 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.25% of Flowers Foods worth $411,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,742,145 shares of the company's stock worth $35,993,000 after purchasing an additional 314,670 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 163.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 266,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 165,085 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $997,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 450,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 13.2% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 173,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,299,000 after acquiring an additional 20,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.2%

FLO stock traded up $0.0250 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.7950. The stock had a trading volume of 1,265,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,447,394. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.32. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.27 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.90% and a net margin of 4.30%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. This is an increase from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.19%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

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

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.