Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stock Now Rated “Reduce” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.80.

A number of brokerages recently commented on FLO. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 24th. Zacks Research lowered Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 542.5% during the first quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 3,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 200.0% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 232.5% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $6.18 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $6.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76 and a beta of 0.43. Flowers Foods has a 52 week low of $5.40 and a 52 week high of $12.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

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

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.1%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 192.31%.

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.