Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the four ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.75.

A number of brokerages have commented on FLO. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $22.50 on Friday. Flowers Foods has a 12 month low of $19.64 and a 12 month high of $26.12. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 162.71%.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,224,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter worth about $2,422,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 247,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,879,000 after purchasing an additional 24,192 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $711,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the first quarter valued at about $4,644,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.