Inspire Investing LLC Trims Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,474 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,011,428 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,437,735 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 159,460 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 307,614 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 14,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

FLO opened at $13.36 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.32 and a 1-year high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Flowers Foods’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 95.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Monday, August 18th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $54,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $254,910. This trade represents a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.