Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FLO. Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of FLO stock opened at $11.12 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.81 and its 200 day moving average is $12.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.32. Flowers Foods has a one year low of $9.93 and a one year high of $20.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 3.78% and a return on equity of 16.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.9%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 107.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total value of $2,271,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,022,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,113,270.60. The trade was 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 link. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. WealthCollab LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% during the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Optas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $230,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 80,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 36,870 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 56,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 6,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $117,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.