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

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.60.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FLO shares. Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped 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 note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price 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.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,458,291.80. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,476,000 after acquiring an additional 736,624 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 96.5% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 1,092,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,259,000 after purchasing an additional 536,507 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 1,515.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 357,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,892,000 after purchasing an additional 335,582 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,664,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1,060.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 171,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 157,106 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:FLO opened at $8.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Flowers Foods has a 12 month low of $6.80 and a 12 month high of $16.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 0.39.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 1.38%.The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Research analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 142.86%.

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.