144,424 Shares in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 144,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 103.8% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 860.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.4% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 4,746.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on FLO. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

NYSE FLO opened at $10.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.34 and a 52-week high of $20.92.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.35% and a net margin of 3.78%.Flowers Foods’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 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.