Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $20.21 and last traded at $20.40, with a volume of 1681690 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.98 and a 200-day moving average of $22.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 84.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.