Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 12-Month Low on Insider Selling

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $12.63 and last traded at $12.62, with a volume of 247020 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.76.

Specifically, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 350,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total transaction of $4,487,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,231,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,786,291.60. The trade was a 22.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on FLO. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.33.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.2%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 15th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 17.85% and a net margin of 4.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.9%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 209,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,323,000 after buying an additional 18,648 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $1,067,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 617.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 780.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 38,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 33,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Flowers Foods by 0.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 615,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,699,000 after buying an additional 5,147 shares during the last quarter. 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.