StockNews.com Lowers Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, BNP Paribas began coverage on Flowers Foods in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an underperform rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $23.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.16. Flowers Foods has a 1 year low of $19.64 and a 1 year high of $26.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 162.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 2.0% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 52,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 2.9% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

About Flowers Foods

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.