Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Buys 483,253 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 8,028.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 489,272 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 483,253 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $9,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Susquehanna International Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 75,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 32,631 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,742,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,993,000 after acquiring an additional 314,670 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 4,498 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 193.0% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 213,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,412,000 after acquiring an additional 140,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

FLO stock opened at $15.05 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.13. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.74 and a 12-month high of $23.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.30% and a return on equity of 17.85%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Flowers Foods’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 95.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.