Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Stock Price Down 6% – Should You Sell?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) shares fell 6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $6.85 and last traded at $6.8050. 4,399,444 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 5,781,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FLO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research lowered Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane reduced 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 3.1%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 247.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. This trade represents a 20.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 40,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 997 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 64.4% in the 2nd 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. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

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.