Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 441.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,545 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,726 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at $499,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 209.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 949,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,054,000 after acquiring an additional 642,942 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 976,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,562,000 after acquiring an additional 65,258 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 10.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 150,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 14,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 12.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 744,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,157,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $11.00 price objective on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total transaction of $2,271,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at $11,113,270.60. This represents a 16.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

FLO opened at $9.25 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.94 and a 1 year high of $20.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 247.50%.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.