Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 52-Week Low - What's Next?

Shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Saturday . The stock traded as low as $18.85 and last traded at $19.07, with a volume of 4011137 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on FLO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business's 50 day moving average price is $20.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.38.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio is 84.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company's stock worth $469,767,000 after purchasing an additional 518,745 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $359,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $1,413,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $314,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.