Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Stock Price Down 6% – Should You Sell?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) dropped 6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $6.85 and last traded at $6.8050. Approximately 4,399,444 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 5,781,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FLO has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 247.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,476,000 after acquiring an additional 736,624 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,997,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,654,000 after acquiring an additional 276,670 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,545,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,497,000 after buying an additional 925,245 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.