Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

by · The Markets Daily

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO – Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on FLO. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Stephens set a $11.00 price target on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $12.60.

View Our Latest Analysis on Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods Stock Up 2.7%

FLO stock opened at $9.91 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.14. Flowers Foods has a 1-year low of $9.44 and a 1-year high of $20.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO – Get Free Report) last released 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. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.0%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,091,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,476,000 after buying an additional 736,624 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Flowers Foods by 2.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Flowers Foods by 6.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,245,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,727,000 after acquiring an additional 602,920 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,968,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,697,000 after acquiring an additional 680,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,619,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,025,000 after acquiring an additional 901,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

About Flowers Foods

(Get Free Report)

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.

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