Truist Financial Has Lowered Expectations for Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Stock Price

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.73% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Flowers Foods stock opened at $18.74 on Monday. Flowers Foods has a 1 year low of $18.36 and a 1 year high of $26.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.28 and its 200 day moving average is $21.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG 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.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Flowers Foods will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $12,058,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,737,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,767,000 after acquiring an additional 518,745 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Flowers Foods by 6.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,971,000 after acquiring an additional 259,216 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 85.4% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 540,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,460,000 after purchasing an additional 248,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 423.1% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 306,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,079,000 after purchasing an additional 248,185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

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.