Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Stock Jumps 3.9% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Flowers Foods shares rose 3.9% to about $5.97, although trading volume was 58% below the stock’s average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains weak: Flowers Foods has an average “Reduce” rating, with four Holds and three Sells, while the average price target is $6.80.
• The company’s latest quarter missed revenue and earnings expectations, with revenue down 4% year over year. Its $0.50 annual dividend implies an elevated 8.4% yield, but the 192.31% payout ratio raises sustainability concerns.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) rose 3.9% on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $5.94 and last traded at $5.9650. Approximately 2,720,945 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 6,523,595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane set a $5.00 price target on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Flowers Foods from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Flowers Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $6.80.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.56.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.4%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 192.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth about $273,587,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 14.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,545,153 shares of the company's stock worth $61,497,000 after acquiring an additional 925,245 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 859.6% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company's stock worth $43,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,962 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth about $18,168,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,680,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc NYSE: FLO is a U.S. food company that produces and markets packaged bakery products. Its portfolio includes breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes, pastries and other baked goods sold through grocery stores, mass retailers, foodservice providers and other retail channels.

The company's brands include Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Tastykake and Mrs. Freshley's. Flowers Foods distributes its products throughout the United States through a combination of direct-store-delivery and warehouse distribution systems.

Flowers Foods traces its history to 1919, when it began as a bakery business in Thomasville, Georgia.

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