Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 114,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,830,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Flowers Foods as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 91.6% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,392,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,548,000 after purchasing an additional 4,011,428 shares during 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 worth $141,610,000 after purchasing an additional 5,437,735 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 12.4% during 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 last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,424,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,749,000 after buying an additional 164,186 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $33,392,000 after buying an additional 14,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on FLO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Monday, August 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $13.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total transaction of $4,487,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,231,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,786,291.60. This represents a 22.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of Flowers Foods 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 16,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $254,910. The trade was a 17.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $11.40 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.74 and a 200 day moving average of $14.98. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.26. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.25 and a 12-month high of $23.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.7%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.61%.

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.