ProShare Advisors LLC Has $27.67 Million Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,543,061 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,752,751 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 1.20% of Flowers Foods worth $27,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. WealthCollab LLC grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% during the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 262.9% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 225.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 176.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 151.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FLO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $7.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 0.46. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.89 and a 1 year high of $17.24.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.6%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 247.50%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.