Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06, Zacks reports. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 3.78% and a return on equity of 16.35%.

Here are the key takeaways from Flowers Foods’ conference call:

• Finished 2025 at the high end of guidance with Q4 net sales up ~11%, materially aided by the Simple Mills acquisition (+4.7%) and an extra week (+7.8%).
• Dave’s Killer Bread (DKB) and other core brands drove share gains — specialty premium loaf +60 bps, DKB unit sales +3%, and share increases in breakfast and buns/rolls — supporting brand-led growth opportunities.
• Simple Mills integration is progressing well, contributing $57.5M in net sales and $6.3M in Adjusted EBITDA in Q4, with the company planning its largest innovation year for the brand in 2026.
• The company recorded a $136 million non‑cash impairment and reported GAAP diluted EPS of a $0.32 loss (adjusted EPS $0.22), while net debt/TTM adjusted EBITDA rose to ~3.3x, signalling elevated leverage and balance‑sheet risk.
• Management expects 2026 to be an investment and transition year with ~4% assumed category headwinds, one fewer week (~1.5% sales headwind), near‑term margin pressure from marketing/innovation and inflation, and guidance of net sales $5.163–$5.267B, adjusted EBITDA $465–$495M, and adjusted EPS $0.80–$0.90.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

NYSE:FLO traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $11.35. The stock had a trading volume of 7,251,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,147,258. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. Flowers Foods has a one year low of $9.93 and a one year high of $20.23.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.7%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is presently 107.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Insider Activity at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total value of $2,271,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,113,270.60. The trade was a 16.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $117,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,619,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,025,000 after purchasing an additional 901,087 shares during the period. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 197.7% in the fourth quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 156,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 103,970 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $119,654,000 after purchasing an additional 276,670 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 341,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,711,000 after purchasing an additional 87,570 shares during 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.