Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Sets New 12-Month Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• 52-week low: Flowers Foods fell to a new 52-week low of $7.86 (last trade $7.935) on heavy volume, and analysts have a consensus rating of "Reduce" after several downgrades and lowered price targets.
• High but risky dividend: The company pays an annualized dividend of $0.99 for a yield of 12.2%, but the dividend payout ratio is an unsustainably high 247.5%.
• Insider selling: CEO Ryals McMullian sold 209,000 shares (≈$1.68M) in early April, reducing his position by about 20%, while institutional investors hold roughly 75% of the stock.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $7.86 and last traded at $7.9350, with a volume of 798089 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $11.80.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.1%

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $9.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The company's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.2%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,531,441.40. This represents a 20.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 129.2% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $726,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 1,060.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 171,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 157,106 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $144,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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