Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $16.83 and last traded at $16.95, with a volume of 337055 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FLO. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson cut their target price 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.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.67.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLO. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 88.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 287,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,636,000 after purchasing an additional 135,111 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,080,000 after acquiring an additional 24,085 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $1,077,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 171.8% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 642.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 98,335 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.