Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) CEO Sells $2,271,830.00 in Stock

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,113,270.60. This trade represents a 16.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.79. The stock had a trading volume of 5,611,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,453,127. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.06 and its 200-day moving average is $13.42. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.32. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.23 and a 12-month high of $20.51. 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 (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.35% and a net margin of 3.78%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,245,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,727,000 after buying an additional 602,920 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,701,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,065,000 after acquiring an additional 251,923 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Flowers Foods by 9.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,718,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,625,000 after buying an additional 502,065 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,440,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,004,000 after acquiring an additional 134,056 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,371,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,054,000 after purchasing an additional 521,670 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.