Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 120,459 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,161,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 120,459 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $12,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.5% in the third quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 40,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 997 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 64.4% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 16.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 1.7% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 87,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. This represents a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 7.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.1%

FLO opened at $7.79 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.80 and a 1-year high of $16.85. 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 company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.39.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 142.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FLO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Stephens decreased their target price on 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 downgraded Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.60.

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.