Zacks Research Downgrades Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) to Strong Sell

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FLO. Weiss Ratings raised Flowers Foods from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 target price on Flowers Foods in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.60.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of FLO stock opened at $6.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 0.39. Flowers Foods has a 52 week low of $5.92 and a 52 week high of $13.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.88.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS. Analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 266.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 32,203 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $121,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 3,225.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 60,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 58,514 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 232.5% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 35.6% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 117,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 30,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc is a U.S.-based producer and distributor of packaged bakery foods. The company makes breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes, tortillas and related baked goods for retail, foodservice and other commercial customers.

Its portfolio includes nationally recognized brands such as Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, Canyon Bakehouse and Mrs. Freshley’s. Flowers Foods also supplies baked goods through regional and local brands, serving grocery stores, mass merchants, club retailers, restaurants and foodservice distributors.

Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, Flowers Foods operates bakeries and distribution facilities across the United States.