Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

Key Points

• Flowers Foods, Inc. shares hit a new 12-month low of $13.05 during trading, with an average price target of $15.33 from analysts.
• The company reported earnings of $0.30 per share, slightly beating expectations, but its revenue of $1.24 billion fell short of the forecasted $1.27 billion.
• A recent quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share was announced, yielding 7.5% annually, with a high payout ratio of 95.19%.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $13.05 and last traded at $13.10, with a volume of 293922 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FLO shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.63. The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.29.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Flowers Foods's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 95.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $54,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $254,910. The trade was a 17.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 270.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,449,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,610,000 after purchasing an additional 5,437,735 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,392,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,548,000 after buying an additional 4,011,428 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,674,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,841,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,435,000 after buying an additional 687,488 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 209.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 949,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,054,000 after buying an additional 642,942 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.