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

Key Points

• Flowers Foods has a consensus analyst rating of "Reduce", with two sell ratings and five hold ratings among seven covering firms. The average 12-month price target is $9.60, and several brokers recently lowered targets or downgraded the stock.
• Insider activity included CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione buying 5,000 shares at $7.51 each, a purchase worth $37,550. Institutional ownership remains high, with 75.45% of shares held by institutions and hedge funds.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.29 per share, slightly above estimates, on revenue of $1.57 billion, and it reaffirmed a full-year earnings outlook around $0.85 per share. Flowers Foods also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, implying a 5.9% yield.

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.60.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FLO. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,458,291.80. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 7.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,476,000 after buying an additional 736,624 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 96.5% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 1,092,633 shares of the company's stock worth $14,259,000 after buying an additional 536,507 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 1,515.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 357,726 shares of the company's stock worth $3,892,000 after buying an additional 335,582 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth $6,664,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,060.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 171,921 shares of the company's stock worth $1,871,000 after acquiring an additional 157,106 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $8.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.97. Flowers Foods has a 52 week low of $6.80 and a 52 week high of $16.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 1.38%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 142.86%.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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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