Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 287,578 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 24.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,448,834 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 287,578 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $11,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,476,000 after purchasing an additional 736,624 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,515.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 357,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,892,000 after purchasing an additional 335,582 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $6,664,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 144.8% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 341,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 201,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 457.1% during the 1st quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. now owns 213,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 174,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Flowers Foods from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price objective on Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.51 per share, with a total value of $37,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of FLO opened at $7.30 on Wednesday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.80 and a 12-month high of $16.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.75.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 1.38%.The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.