Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases 3,606,962 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 859.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,026,582 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,606,962 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 1.91% of Flowers Foods worth $43,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,371,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,054,000 after acquiring an additional 521,670 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $1,818,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake 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 valued at $14,259,000 after acquiring an additional 536,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $3,892,000 after acquiring an additional 335,582 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $7.32 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.43. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.80 and a 1-year high of $16.85. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.40.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 142.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FLO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on 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 lowered their target price 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. Stephens lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.60.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $1,678,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. This trade represents a 20.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

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.