Zacks Research Upgrades Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) to Hold

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from “strong sell” to “hold”, reflecting a slightly more constructive view after recent analyst pressure on the stock.
• Flowers Foods reported Q1 earnings of $0.29 per share, topping estimates by a penny, while revenue rose 1.1% year over year to $1.57 billion, though sales still came in a bit below expectations.
• The company is facing margin and balance-sheet pressure: it cut its dividend by 50%, is focusing on debt reduction and cost control, and management is targeting leverage below 3x by fiscal 2027.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on FLO. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 13.7%

Flowers Foods stock opened at $7.97 on Thursday. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $6.80 and a twelve month high of $17.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $8.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.46.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 1.38%.The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $1,678,270.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at $6,531,441.40. This trade represents a 20.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 7.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter worth $499,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 209.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 949,688 shares of the company's stock worth $18,054,000 after acquiring an additional 642,942 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 976,456 shares of the company's stock worth $18,562,000 after acquiring an additional 65,258 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 150,404 shares of the company's stock worth $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 14,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 744,714 shares of the company's stock worth $14,157,000 after acquiring an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Flowers Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Flowers Foods beat Q1 earnings estimates, reporting $0.29 per share versus $0.28 expected, and revenue grew 1.1% year over year. The earnings beat helped offset concerns about slower volume trends. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management is emphasizing debt reduction and cost control, with leverage targeted below 3x by fiscal 2027. Investors appear encouraged that freeing up cash could support future buybacks or a re-rating of the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also launched a refreshed Nature’s Own brand and a “simpler recipe” marketing push, which could help demand over time but is not yet a near-term financial catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 profit declined from a year ago and the company cut its dividend by 50%, signaling pressure from higher costs and a shift to preserve cash for balance-sheet repair. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue came in slightly below estimates and volumes were soft, suggesting that pricing and acquisition-related growth are only partially offsetting weakness in the core bread business. Article Title

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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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