Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $7.76 and last traded at $7.7170, with a volume of 1713734 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FLO. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Stephens set a $11.00 target price on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $11.17.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.09.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 1.59%.Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 247.50%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 89.0% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 41,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 19,616 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 155.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 96,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 58,665 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 34.8% in the first quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 71,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 18,573 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 63.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 81,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 31,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

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.