Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $8.15 and last traded at $8.3150, with a volume of 379732 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FLO. Zacks Research cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $11.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.60.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.29.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.9%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 247.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total transaction of $2,271,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at $11,113,270.60. This trade represents a 16.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WealthCollab LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% in the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter worth $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 262.9% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 225.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is owned by 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.