Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemWall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FLO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens set a $11.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.80.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on FLO
Flowers Foods Stock Performance
NYSE FLO opened at $8.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.71 and a 200 day moving average of $10.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $7.86 and a twelve month high of $20.23.
Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 247.50%.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $6,531,441.40. This represents a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 859.6% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,962 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 139.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $37,674,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,603,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,082,000 after buying an additional 1,896,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,333,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,032,000 after buying an additional 1,732,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.