Saxon Interests Inc. Invests $766,000 in Flowers Foods, Inc. $FLO

Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 93,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WealthCollab LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% during the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 225.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 176.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 151.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FLO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

NYSE FLO opened at $8.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.15. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.80 and a twelve month high of $16.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 1.38%.The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s 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. Research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 142.86%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.