Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $20.21 and last traded at $20.22, with a volume of 447241 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.31.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,971,000 after acquiring an additional 259,216 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 85.0% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 33,480 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 30.2% in the third quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 429,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,897,000 after buying an additional 99,599 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 180,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,158,000 after buying an additional 87,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,571,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

About Flowers Foods

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.