Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.1667.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Stephens set a $11.00 target price on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on 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 cut Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Monday.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $8.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $7.86 and a 52-week high of $17.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.65 and a 200-day moving average of $10.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46 and a beta of 0.46.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $1,678,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,531,441.40. This represents a 20.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. WealthCollab LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% in the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 225.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 262.9% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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