Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO – Free Report) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q3 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Flowers Foods in a report issued on Thursday, September 10th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.16 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.18. Zacks Research currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Flowers Foods’ current full-year earnings is $0.79 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Flowers Foods’ FY2026 earnings at $0.80 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.27 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.21 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.17 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.16 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $0.80 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $0.37 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $0.21 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $0.85 EPS.
A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on FLO. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 target price on shares of Flowers Foods in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Flowers Foods has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.60.
Flowers Foods Price Performance
FLO stock opened at $6.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 0.39. Flowers Foods has a twelve month low of $6.10 and a twelve month high of $14.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.
Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 1.06%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.850 EPS.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Flowers Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $273,587,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Flowers Foods by 859.6% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,026,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,809,000 after buying an additional 3,606,962 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Flowers Foods during the 2nd quarter worth $18,168,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter worth $21,680,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,603,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896,607 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.
Flowers Foods Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 192.31%.
Trending Headlines about Flowers Foods
Here are the key news stories impacting Flowers Foods this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its Q1 2028 EPS estimate to $0.37 from $0.34, indicating some expectation for improved profitability in that quarter.
- Neutral Sentiment: Zacks maintained a “Hold” rating on FLO. Its estimates call for $0.80 EPS in fiscal 2026, $0.80 in fiscal 2027 and $0.85 in fiscal 2028, while the current-year analyst consensus is $0.79 per share.
- Negative Sentiment: Zacks cut its fiscal 2026 EPS forecast to $0.80 from $0.86, reduced fiscal 2027 to $0.80 from $0.90, and lowered fiscal 2028 to $0.85 from $0.88. These reductions point to diminished expectations for Flowers Foods’ earnings growth.
- Negative Sentiment: Nearer-term estimates were also reduced: Q3 2026 EPS was lowered to $0.16 from $0.18, Q1 2027 to $0.27 from $0.30, Q2 2027 to $0.21 from $0.23, Q3 2027 to $0.17 from $0.19, and Q4 2027 to $0.16 from $0.18. Q2 2028 was also cut to $0.21 from $0.23.
- Negative Sentiment: The revisions reinforce concerns following Flowers Foods’ latest quarterly report, which missed both EPS and revenue expectations and showed a 4% year-over-year revenue decline. The company reported $0.21 EPS versus the $0.22 consensus and revenue of $1.19 billion versus $1.23 billion expected.
About Flowers Foods
Flowers Foods, Inc is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, offering a variety of fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes and tortillas. Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, the company operates an extensive network of bakeries and distribution centers that serve retail grocery chains, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers Foods markets its products under well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Mrs.
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