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

Key Points

• Flowers Foods has a consensus broker rating of "Reduce", with two sell ratings and five hold ratings; the average 1-year price target is $9.60.
• The stock recently traded around $7.96, and the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.29, slightly beating estimates while revenue came in just under expectations at $1.57 billion.
• Flowers Foods pays a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share ($0.50 annualized), implying a 6.3% yield, though the payout ratio is elevated at 142.86%.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.60.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FLO shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Stephens lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 7.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 13.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,371,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,054,000 after purchasing an additional 521,670 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 736,624 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,818,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 96.5% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 1,092,633 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,259,000 after purchasing an additional 536,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 1,515.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 357,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,892,000 after purchasing an additional 335,582 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $7.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74 and a beta of 0.40. Flowers Foods has a 52 week low of $6.80 and a 52 week high of $16.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $7.94 and a 200-day moving average of $9.28.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Flowers Foods's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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