Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLO has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stephens set a $11.00 price target on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $11.17.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 4.0%

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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 0.46.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.7%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value 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 $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. WealthCollab LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% in the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 262.9% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 225.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 176.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.