Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Stephens dropped their target price on Flowers Foods from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.70.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $6.42 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67 and a beta of 0.38. Flowers Foods has a 12 month low of $5.40 and a 12 month high of $12.14.

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

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.1250 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 192.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, insider Cindy Cox sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total transaction of $25,916.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,666.70. The trade was a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 43,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 12,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 68.2% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 5.6% during the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 37,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc. is a U.S. bakery company that produces and markets packaged breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes and other baked goods. Its products are sold under brands including Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, Canyon Bakehouse and Mrs. Freshley’s. Founded in 1919 in Thomasville, Georgia, the company has grown from a local bakery into a national producer of baked goods. Flowers Foods serves consumers across the United States through grocery stores and other retail channels, using a mix of direct-store delivery and warehouse distribution.