Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.25.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE FLO opened at $17.12 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $16.43 and a twelve month high of $24.81. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.07 and its 200 day moving average is $19.57.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 744,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,157,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 150,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 14,476 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 976,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,562,000 after purchasing an additional 65,258 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 1st quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 29,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 9,533 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is 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.