Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) shares reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $11.25 and last traded at $11.42, with a volume of 3186453 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.74 and a 200-day moving average of $14.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 107.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cindy Cox sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $54,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,910. This represents a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total value of $4,487,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,231,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,786,291.60. This represents a 22.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 11.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 270.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,449,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,610,000 after purchasing an additional 5,437,735 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,392,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,548,000 after buying an additional 4,011,428 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 139.1% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,295,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,060,000 after buying an additional 2,499,194 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $37,674,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,726,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.