Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Invests $1.62 Million in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 148,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,617,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WealthCollab LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% during the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.4% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 262.9% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 140.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 13.7%

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $7.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.80 and a 1 year high of $17.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.46.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Flowers Foods News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Flowers Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Flowers Foods beat Q1 earnings estimates, reporting $0.29 per share versus $0.28 expected, and revenue grew 1.1% year over year. The earnings beat helped offset concerns about slower volume trends. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management is emphasizing debt reduction and cost control, with leverage targeted below 3x by fiscal 2027. Investors appear encouraged that freeing up cash could support future buybacks or a re-rating of the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also launched a refreshed Nature’s Own brand and a “simpler recipe” marketing push, which could help demand over time but is not yet a near-term financial catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 profit declined from a year ago and the company cut its dividend by 50%, signaling pressure from higher costs and a shift to preserve cash for balance-sheet repair. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue came in slightly below estimates and volumes were soft, suggesting that pricing and acquisition-related growth are only partially offsetting weakness in the core bread business. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

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.