Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) reached a new 52-week low on Saturday . The stock traded as low as $18.85 and last traded at $19.07, with a volume of 4011137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.43 and a 200-day moving average of $21.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 84.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Flowers Foods in the second quarter valued at about $453,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 7,051 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 11.9% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 7.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the period. 75.45% of the stock is 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.