Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Lowers Stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. decreased its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 61.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 90,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144,042 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 860.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 56.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total value of $4,487,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,231,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,786,291.60. This represents a 22.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO opened at $11.11 on Thursday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.34 and a 1 year high of $21.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.98.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.23. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 3.78% and a return on equity of 16.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.9%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FLO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial cut 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.67.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.