Fifth Third Bancorp Has $1.41 Million Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 5,584.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,386 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $1,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 859.6% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,962 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth $21,680,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,603,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,082,000 after buying an additional 1,896,607 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,333,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,032,000 after buying an additional 1,732,003 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 73.6% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,683,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,068,000 after buying an additional 1,561,493 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens cut their price target on shares of 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. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 5.9%

Flowers Foods stock opened at $7.77 on Friday. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.80 and a fifty-two week high of $16.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.93.

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

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 142.86%.

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.