UBS Group AG Sells 2,425,425 Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

UBS Group AG lowered its stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 44.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,015,484 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,425,425 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $32,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. WealthCollab LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% in the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 262.9% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Flowers Foods by 225.6% in 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. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on FLO shares. Zacks Research lowered Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens set a $11.00 price target on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $11.17.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. This represents a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.8%

FLO opened at $8.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $8.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.25. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $7.86 and a one year high of $17.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 1.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.8%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Flowers Foods Profile

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.