Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $8.15 and last traded at $8.3150, with a volume of 379732 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens set a $11.00 target price on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $12.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $10.19 and its 200 day moving average is $11.29.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 1.59%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,113,270.60. This trade represents a 16.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,476,000 after buying an additional 736,624 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,997,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,654,000 after acquiring an additional 276,670 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.3% during the second 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Flowers Foods by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,968,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,697,000 after purchasing an additional 680,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,619,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,025,000 after purchasing an additional 901,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.