Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $15.74 and last traded at $15.93, with a volume of 95599 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $15.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered 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 on the stock in a 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.6%

The stock's 50-day moving average is $17.27 and its 200-day moving average is $18.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 4.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 91.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,004,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,764,031.60. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.92 per share, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 532,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440. Corporate insiders own 11.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Flowers Foods by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,742,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,993,000 after buying an additional 314,670 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $276,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,261,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 174,056 shares of the company's stock worth $3,596,000 after purchasing an additional 86,510 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $825,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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