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

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $20.59 and last traded at $20.74, with a volume of 79236 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.20 and its 200-day moving average is $22.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 84.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after buying an additional 24,085 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 144.5% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 40,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 23,890 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 4.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,216 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 287,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,636,000 after purchasing an additional 135,111 shares during the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.