Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $6.01, but opened at $5.70. Flowers Foods shares last traded at $5.9230, with a volume of 1,999,113 shares traded.

The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.630-0.680 EPS.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.1250 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.9%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 192.31%.

Key Flowers Foods News

Investors following FLO have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Cash from operating activities increased 44.1% year over year to $78.3 million, while capital spending declined and cash on hand rose. These improvements offer some support, though they were outweighed by weaker profitability. Quiver Quantitative earnings summary
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS was $0.10, below the $0.15 consensus and down from $0.23 a year earlier. Revenue of $1.17 billion also missed estimates slightly and fell 4.7% year over year; net income dropped about 64%. Zacks earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage pointed to affordability-focused consumers as a challenge for the business, adding pressure to results and the outlook. Benzinga article on consumer affordability

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Flowers Foods from $6.50 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flowers Foods

In other news, insider Cindy Cox sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total transaction of $25,916.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,666.70. The trade was a 9.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at $273,587,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 14.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,545,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,497,000 after purchasing an additional 925,245 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth about $18,168,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 8.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,770,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,428,000 after purchasing an additional 138,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the second quarter worth about $11,830,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $6.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.84.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc. is a U.S. bakery company that produces and markets packaged breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes and other baked goods. Its products are sold under brands including Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, Canyon Bakehouse and Mrs. Freshley’s. Founded in 1919 in Thomasville, Georgia, the company has grown from a local bakery into a national producer of baked goods. Flowers Foods serves consumers across the United States through grocery stores and other retail channels, using a mix of direct-store delivery and warehouse distribution.