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

Key Points

• Flowers Foods has a consensus analyst rating of "Reduce", with seven analysts covering the stock: two sells and five holds. The average 12-month price target is $9.60.
• Recent analyst moves have been mostly bearish, including price-target cuts from Stephens and BNP Paribas Exane, while Zacks Research upgraded the stock only to hold. Overall, the stock has faced multiple downgrades in recent weeks.
• The company posted Q1 earnings of $0.29 per share, slightly beating estimates, while revenue came in just below expectations at $1.57 billion. Flowers Foods also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, equivalent to a 6.5% annualized yield.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.60.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Stephens decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased 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. Weiss Ratings cut Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,476,000 after acquiring an additional 736,624 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,997,655 shares of the company's stock worth $119,654,000 after buying an additional 276,670 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,245,714 shares of the company's stock worth $163,727,000 after buying an additional 602,920 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,968,508 shares of the company's stock worth $86,697,000 after buying an additional 680,412 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,545,153 shares of the company's stock worth $61,497,000 after buying an additional 925,245 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $7.67 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $8.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.71. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $6.80 and a 52-week high of $16.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 282.86%.

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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