BNP Paribas Initiates Coverage on Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO)

Investment analysts at BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas’ price objective would suggest a potential downside of 7.54% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Flowers Foods from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Flowers Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.20.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Flowers Foods stock opened at $21.63 on Wednesday. Flowers Foods has a 52 week low of $19.64 and a 52 week high of $26.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.36.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 1,006.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 10,522 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 7,694.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,924 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 128.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Flowers Foods during the first quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter worth $581,000. 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.