Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 0.800-0.900 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 0.840. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.2 billion-$5.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $5.2 billion.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 3.1%

NYSE FLO traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $7.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,775,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,906,364. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.94. Flowers Foods has a 1-year low of $6.80 and a 1-year high of $17.24.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. Flowers Foods’s payout ratio is 247.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In related news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total value of $1,678,270.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at $6,531,441.40. This trade represents a 20.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,603,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896,607 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,333,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732,003 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 73.6% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,683,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,068,000 after buying an additional 1,561,493 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,619,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,025,000 after buying an additional 901,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,269,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,697,000 after buying an additional 819,920 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, offering a variety of fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes and tortillas. Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, the company operates an extensive network of bakeries and distribution centers that serve retail grocery chains, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers Foods markets its products under well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Mrs.