Truist Financial Cuts Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Price Target to $20.00

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) had its price target lowered by Truist Financial from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:FLO opened at $18.43 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.38. Flowers Foods has a fifty-two week low of $18.36 and a fifty-two week high of $26.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.81.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last posted its quarterly 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. Analysts expect that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLO. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 61.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 7,051 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 429,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,897,000 after purchasing an additional 99,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 429,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,900,000 after purchasing an additional 5,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.