Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Makes New $3.84 Million Investment in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 240,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,841,000. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC owned 0.11% of Flowers Foods at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,392,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,548,000 after buying an additional 4,011,428 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 270.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,449,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,610,000 after acquiring an additional 5,437,735 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.9% in the first quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,612,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,694,000 after purchasing an additional 159,460 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 12.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,782,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,902,000 after purchasing an additional 307,614 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,756,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,392,000 after purchasing an additional 14,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FLO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE FLO opened at $13.16 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.42 and a 1 year high of $23.44.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 350,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total value of $4,487,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,231,380 shares in the company, valued at $15,786,291.60. This trade represents a 22.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $54,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $254,910. This trade represents a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.