Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 0.750-0.850 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 0.830. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.1 billion-$5.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $5.2 billion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on FLO. Weiss Ratings cut Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $7.13. The company had a trading volume of 7,770,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,197,164. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $7.81 and its 200 day moving average is $8.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 0.40. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $6.80 and a twelve month high of $15.98.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.51 per share, with a total value of $37,550.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 194,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,291.80. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $399,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,333,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,003 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,905.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 297,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 282,309 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 76.8% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 102,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 44,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 24,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 10,313 shares during 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.