Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 1-Year Low - What's Next?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $17.99 and last traded at $18.34, with a volume of 1656534 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on FLO shares. StockNews.com cut Flowers Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.63.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 4.86%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $58,476,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,591,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,521,000 after buying an additional 965,097 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,475,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,138,000 after buying an additional 623,800 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Flowers Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,058,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.