Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 12-Month Low - Here's Why

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $16.28 and last traded at $16.31, with a volume of 2384188 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average is $17.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Flowers Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This is a positive change from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 532,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director George E. Deese acquired 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. This represents a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $202,440 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FLO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 617.3% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2,191.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,177 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 904.8% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,502 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.