Fifth Third Bancorp Has $1.41 Million Holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 5,584.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 173,386 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.08% of Flowers Foods worth $1,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,476,000 after acquiring an additional 736,624 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 1,092,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,259,000 after acquiring an additional 536,507 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,515.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 357,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,892,000 after acquiring an additional 335,582 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,664,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 144.8% in the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 341,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 201,946 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $7.51 per share, with a total value of $37,550.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 5.9%

Flowers Foods stock opened at $7.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.80 and a 12 month high of $16.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21 and a beta of 0.39.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 1.38%.The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 142.86%.

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.