Zacks Research Upgrades Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) to Hold

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on FLO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 13.7%

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $7.97 on Thursday. Flowers Foods has a 1 year low of $6.80 and a 1 year high of $17.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $8.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.89.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.5% in the third quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 40,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 64.4% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.1% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 16.0% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Flowers Foods

Here are the key news stories impacting Flowers Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Flowers Foods beat Q1 earnings estimates, reporting $0.29 per share versus $0.28 expected, and revenue grew 1.1% year over year. The earnings beat helped offset concerns about slower volume trends. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management is emphasizing debt reduction and cost control, with leverage targeted below 3x by fiscal 2027. Investors appear encouraged that freeing up cash could support future buybacks or a re-rating of the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also launched a refreshed Nature’s Own brand and a “simpler recipe” marketing push, which could help demand over time but is not yet a near-term financial catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 profit declined from a year ago and the company cut its dividend by 50%, signaling pressure from higher costs and a shift to preserve cash for balance-sheet repair. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue came in slightly below estimates and volumes were soft, suggesting that pricing and acquisition-related growth are only partially offsetting weakness in the core bread business. Article Title

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.