Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Key Points

• Flowers Foods has updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance, providing EPS expectations of 1.000-1.10 and revenue forecast of $5.2 billion-$5.3 billion, slightly lower than consensus estimates.
• The company has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.2475 per share, reflecting a 6.0% yield and a payout ratio of 91.67%.
• Shares of Flowers Foods were down 1.0% following the earnings report, with recent analyst ratings showing a shift from "buy" to "hold" and a lowered price target from $20.00 to $16.00.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.000-1.10 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.087. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.2 billion-$5.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $5.3 billion.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded up $0.1650 on Wednesday, reaching $15.8850. 526,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,446,040. The firm's 50 day moving average is $16.01 and its 200-day moving average is $17.38. Flowers Foods has a one year low of $15.27 and a one year high of $23.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This is a boost from Flowers Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is currently 95.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FLO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.4% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 140.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,061 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 2,958 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth $163,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth $196,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 31.5% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 14,876 shares of the company's stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 3,565 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.