Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Stock Price Target Lowered at Stephens

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Stephens from $6.00 to $5.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Stephens‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 12.28% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.70.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO opened at $6.27 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.03. Flowers Foods has a fifty-two week low of $5.40 and a fifty-two week high of $12.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 1.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, insider Cindy Cox sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total transaction of $25,916.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,666.70. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 115.0% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 2,514 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 542.5% during the first quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 3,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,859 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 232.5% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc is a producer and marketer of packaged bakery foods in the United States. The company makes and distributes bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, pastries, and other baked goods through a network of bakeries and distribution operations.

Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Tastykake, Canyon Bakehouse, and Mrs. Freshley’s. Flowers Foods sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, foodservice distributors, convenience stores, and other retail channels.

Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, Flowers Foods serves customers across the United States.