Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Stock Has Average Target Price of $7.60 According to Analysts

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.80.

FLO has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Flowers Foods from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research cut Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 24th.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.8%

FLO opened at $5.84 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 0.43. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $5.40 and a twelve month high of $13.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $6.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.54.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.1250 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 542.5% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 3,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 2,859 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 232.5% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc (NYSE:FLO) is a U.S. food company that produces and markets packaged bakery products. Its portfolio includes breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes, pastries and other baked goods sold through grocery stores, mass retailers, foodservice providers and other retail channels.

The company’s brands include Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Tastykake and Mrs. Freshley’s. Flowers Foods distributes its products throughout the United States through a combination of direct-store-delivery and warehouse distribution systems.

Flowers Foods traces its history to 1919, when it began as a bakery business in Thomasville, Georgia.