Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts remain cautious on Flowers Foods: Seven analysts give the stock an average “Reduce” rating, with two sells and five holds. The average 12-month price target is $9.17, versus a recent share price of $7.50.
• Flowers Foods reported quarterly EPS of $0.29, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 1.1% year over year to $1.57 billion. Management guided to fiscal 2026 EPS of $0.80–$0.90.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.125, representing a 6.7% annualized yield, but its 142.86% payout ratio raises sustainability concerns. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the stock, while the CFO recently purchased 5,000 shares.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.1667.

FLO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price objective on Flowers Foods in a research note on Monday, August 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.51 per share, with a total value of $37,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,458,291.80. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.23% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at about $273,587,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 859.6% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,962 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $21,680,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,603,093 shares of the company's stock worth $50,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,333,854 shares of the company's stock worth $58,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,003 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE FLO opened at $7.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.56. 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 has a 12-month low of $6.80 and a 12-month high of $16.19.

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

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is 142.86%.

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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