Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO)

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 8,370 put options on the company. This is an increase of 614% compared to the average volume of 1,173 put options.

Trending Headlines about Flowers Foods

These are some of the FLO headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Operating cash flow increased year over year, and cash balances rose, providing a partial offset to the weaker earnings picture. Quiver Quantitative earnings summary
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS was $0.10, below the $0.15 analyst estimate and down from $0.23 a year earlier. Revenue was $1.17 billion, slightly short of estimates and 4.7% lower year over year; net income also fell sharply. Zacks earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Management cut full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $0.63–$0.68, below the $0.78 consensus, and forecast revenue of $5.0–$5.1 billion versus expectations of about $5.1 billion. The reduced outlook adds to investor concerns about demand and profitability. Revised 2026 guidance

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cindy Cox sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total value of $25,916.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $241,666.70. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Flowers Foods by 68.2% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,799 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 115.0% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 542.5% in the first quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 3,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,859 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 200.0% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 7.6%

NYSE FLO traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5.55. 9,929,083 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,521,768. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Flowers Foods has a 1-year low of $5.30 and a 1-year high of $12.14.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. Flowers Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.630-0.680 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 0.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.0%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is currently 192.31%.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc. is a U.S. bakery company that produces and markets packaged breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes and other baked goods. Its products are sold under brands including Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, Canyon Bakehouse and Mrs. Freshley’s. Founded in 1919 in Thomasville, Georgia, the company has grown from a local bakery into a national producer of baked goods. Flowers Foods serves consumers across the United States through grocery stores and other retail channels, using a mix of direct-store delivery and warehouse distribution.