Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stock Now Rated "Reduce" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Flowers Foods received a consensus “Reduce” rating from seven analysts, including three sell ratings and four holds. The average 12-month price target is $6.80, with several brokerages recently lowering their targets.
• The company’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations: adjusted earnings were $0.21 per share versus the $0.22 estimate, revenue declined 4% year over year to $1.19 billion, and prior-year EPS was $0.28.
• Shares opened at $6.18, near their 12-month low of $5.40, while Flowers Foods continues to offer a $0.125 quarterly dividend, equivalent to an 8.1% annualized yield; however, its payout ratio is high at 192.31%.

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.80.

FLO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Stephens lowered their price target on Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In related news, insider Cindy Cox sold 4,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total transaction of $25,916.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,666.70. The trade was a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the third quarter worth about $91,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the third quarter worth about $1,121,000. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 28.2% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 67,146 shares of the company's stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 14,768 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods in the third quarter valued at about $170,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 25.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 143,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $797,000 after purchasing an additional 28,982 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $6.18 on Friday. Flowers Foods has a 12-month low of $5.40 and a 12-month high of $12.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76 and a beta of 0.43.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 1.06%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 0.80 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.1250 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 192.31%.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc is a producer and marketer of packaged bakery foods in the United States. The company makes and distributes bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, pastries, and other baked goods through a network of bakeries and distribution operations.

Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Nature's Own, Wonder, Dave's Killer Bread, Tastykake, Canyon Bakehouse, and Mrs. Freshley's. Flowers Foods sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, foodservice distributors, convenience stores, and other retail channels.

Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, Flowers Foods serves customers across the United States.

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