Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $20.21 and last traded at $20.22, with a volume of 447241 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.33 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.21%.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 56,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.4% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 102,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433 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.