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

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $17.36 and last traded at $17.57, with a volume of 2126951 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on FLO. Truist Financial cut their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $18.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is 82.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth $58,476,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $42,591,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,521,000 after acquiring an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,475,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,138,000 after acquiring an additional 623,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,058,000. 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.