Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $6.76 and last traded at $6.7850, with a volume of 1889707 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FLO. Zacks Research raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Flowers Foods from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Stephens decreased their price target on Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price objective on Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $7.60.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 3.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65 and a beta of 0.40.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 1.06%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 192.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $7.51 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $273,587,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,476,000 after buying an additional 736,624 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,997,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,654,000 after buying an additional 276,670 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased 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 valued at $163,727,000 after acquiring an additional 602,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 680,412 shares during the period. 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.