SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 314,247 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 1,057.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 343,957 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 314,247 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.16% of Flowers Foods worth $4,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 2.3% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 32,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total value of $2,271,830.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,022,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,113,270.60. The trade was a 16.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on FLO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.67.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $10.72 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.30. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.93 and a 12 month high of $20.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.35% and a net margin of 3.78%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. Analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.2%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.61%.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, offering a variety of fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes and tortillas. Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, the company operates an extensive network of bakeries and distribution centers that serve retail grocery chains, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers Foods markets its products under well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Mrs.