Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.1667.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FLO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens set a $11.00 target price on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research cut Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th.

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. 7.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 12,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 40,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:FLO opened at $8.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.46 and a beta of 0.46. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $7.86 and a twelve month high of $17.67.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 247.50%.

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.