Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,058,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,360,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.50% of Flowers Foods as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter valued at $273,587,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 859.6% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,809,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606,962 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,680,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,603,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,607 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,333,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the purchase, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO opened at $7.18 on Thursday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $6.80 and a one year high of $15.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.31.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on FLO. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price objective on Flowers Foods in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.60.

Flowers Foods 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.