Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stock Has Average Target Price of $7.60 According to Analysts

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.80.

FLO has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $273,587,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 14.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,545,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,497,000 after purchasing an additional 925,245 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 859.6% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,809,000 after buying an additional 3,606,962 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $21,680,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at $18,168,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $5.79 on Monday. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $5.40 and a 52-week high of $13.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 0.43.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. Flowers Foods’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 0.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.1250 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 192.31%.

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.