Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $11.40 and last traded at $11.4250, with a volume of 1369694 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 4.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.20.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 107.61%.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $54,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,994 shares in the company, valued at $254,910. The trade was a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total transaction of $4,487,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,231,380 shares in the company, valued at $15,786,291.60. This trade represents a 22.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FLO. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,245,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,727,000 after acquiring an additional 602,920 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 91.6% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,392,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,548,000 after purchasing an additional 4,011,428 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,701,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,065,000 after purchasing an additional 251,923 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,612,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,694,000 after purchasing an additional 159,460 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 139.1% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,295,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499,194 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.