Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Announces Earnings Results

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 1.59%.The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods updated its FY 2026 guidance to 0.800-0.900 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Flowers Foods’ conference call:

• Flowers Foods said first-quarter execution and cost discipline helped deliver bottom-line results ahead of market expectations, even though comparable sales fell 1.2% on softer trends.
• Traditional loaf volumes remained pressured by heavy promotions, consumer trade-down, and macro weakness, with management saying the category is still soft and near-term top-line trends remain cautious.
• The company highlighted strong momentum in better-for-you and snacking brands, including Nature’s Own Keto, Dave’s Killer Bread, Canyon Bakehouse, and especially Simple Mills, which posted 9% retail sales growth and is expected to accelerate through 2026.
• Management emphasized the Nature’s Own relaunch with fewer, simpler ingredients and a major marketing push, calling it a key step in strengthening the brand’s position in the better-for-you segment.
• Flowers cut its annual dividend to $0.50 per share to reduce leverage and interest expense, and it ended the quarter at 3.2x net leverage, though management expects the move to improve financial flexibility and fund growth investments.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of Flowers Foods stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $7.02. 15,654,592 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,879,811. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $6.80 and a twelve month high of $17.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.94.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 247.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 directly owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at $6,531,441.40. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $118,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 2,844 shares during the period. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Flowers Foods by 341.7% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 54.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 4,245 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on FLO. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research lowered Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

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.