Insider Buying: Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) CFO Buys $37,550.00 in Stock

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione acquired 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

FLO stock opened at $7.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $6.80 and a one year high of $16.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.50.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business’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. On average, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 282.86%.

Key Headlines Impacting Flowers Foods

Here are the key news stories impacting Flowers Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Flowers Foods CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares at $7.51, a sign of insider confidence that can help support sentiment. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its Q1 2028 EPS estimate to $0.34 from $0.32, but kept a Hold rating, limiting the immediate upside signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts still expect Flowers Foods to earn about $0.87 per share in the current fiscal year, which is close to the company’s own guidance range.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research cut FY2026 EPS to $0.86 from $0.90 and reduced near-term quarterly estimates, including Q2 2026, Q3 2026 and Q4 2026, suggesting softer profit momentum ahead.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reductions were made to 2027 EPS forecasts across multiple quarters, reinforcing concerns that earnings growth may remain limited for Flowers Foods (FLO).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 859.6% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,962 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 139.1% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,295,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499,194 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,680,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,603,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,333,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,003 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.