Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

FLO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $13.67.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 0.5%

FLO stock opened at $11.07 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $9.93 and a 52-week high of $20.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.32.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 16.35% and a net margin of 3.78%.Flowers Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.2475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.9%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total transaction of $2,271,830.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at $11,113,270.60. The trade was a 16.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthCollab LLC increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% during the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 262.9% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Flowers Foods by 103.8% in the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, offering a variety of fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes and tortillas. Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, the company operates an extensive network of bakeries and distribution centers that serve retail grocery chains, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers Foods markets its products under well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Mrs.