Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stock Has Average Target Price of $7.60

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is negative: Flowers Foods has a consensus “Reduce” rating, with three sell and three hold recommendations. The average 12-month price target is $7.60, versus a recent share price of $5.58.
• Operating results weakened: Quarterly EPS came in at $0.21, below the $0.22 estimate, while revenue of $1.19 billion declined 4% year over year and missed forecasts.
• The stock offers a high dividend yield: Flowers Foods pays a quarterly dividend of $0.125, equivalent to $0.50 annually and a 9.0% yield, although its payout ratio is elevated at 192.31%.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.60.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FLO shares. Stephens reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 46.2% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 23,365 shares of the company's stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 7,386 shares in the last quarter. Altar Rock LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the second quarter valued at $118,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 266.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 32,203 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 3,225.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 60,328 shares of the company's stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 58,514 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $5.58 on Monday. Flowers Foods has a fifty-two week low of $5.40 and a fifty-two week high of $13.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $6.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.60.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 1.06%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.0%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 192.31%.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc NYSE: FLO is a U.S. food company that produces and markets packaged bakery products. Its portfolio includes breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes, pastries and other baked goods sold through grocery stores, mass retailers, foodservice providers and other retail channels.

The company's brands include Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Tastykake and Mrs. Freshley's. Flowers Foods distributes its products throughout the United States through a combination of direct-store-delivery and warehouse distribution systems.

Flowers Foods traces its history to 1919, when it began as a bakery business in Thomasville, Georgia.

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