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

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $21.19 and last traded at $21.23, with a volume of 1452165 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.31 and its 200-day moving average is $22.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.37.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 4.70%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Flowers Foods during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 18,254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Flowers Foods by 329,400.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

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.