DA Davidson Has Lowered Expectations for Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Stock Price

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) had its price objective reduced by DA Davidson from $24.00 to $21.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FLO. StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO opened at $18.43 on Monday. Flowers Foods has a 1-year low of $18.36 and a 1-year high of $26.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.81.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its stake in Flowers Foods by 82.6% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 162,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,366,000 after purchasing an additional 73,697 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,219,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,205,000 after acquiring an additional 60,867 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 59,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 160,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 25,299 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $1,379,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.