Flowers Foods Inc., known by the ticker symbol FLO, is a mid cap packaged foods company in the consumer defensive business sector. This is my first report on FLO for my Viital stock portfolio It was the thirty-eighth selection for my Vista portfolio number 5 as of May 26, this year.

Flowers Foods Inc. is an American company producing bakery food for retail and foodservice across the United States. 

The product portfolio includes fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, and tortillas. The company distributes to supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants. 

Photo by Jude Infantini on Unsplash

The operating segments are divided into two: (1) direct store delivery, which provides fresh bread, tortillas, cakes, and rolls; and the (2) warehouse segment, which distributes fresh snack cakes and frozen bread and rolls. 

The key Fowers Foods brands are Nature's Own, White wheat, Cobblestone Bread, Wonder,  Tastykake, and Dave/s Killer Bread.

The company distributes its products through a direct-store-delivery distribution and a warehouse delivery system, as well as operates 46 bakeries comprising 44 owned and 2 leased.

Its customers include mass merchandisers, supermarkets and other retailers, convenience stores, national and regional restaurants, quick-serve chains, retail in-store bakeries, foodservice distributors, food wholesalers, institutions, dollar stores, and vending companies.

The company was formerly known as Flowers Industries and changed its name to Flowers Foods, Inc. in 2001. Flowers Foods, Inc. was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia.

Three key data points gauge any dividend equity or fund such as Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO):

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Those three basic keys best tell whether any company has made, is making, and will make money. 

FLO Price

Flowers Foods's price per share was $26.86 as of yesterday's market close. One year ago its price was $22.16. So, FLO's share price increased by over 21.2% in the past year.

If Flowers Foods' stock trades in the range of $22.00 to $30.00 this next year, its recent $26.86 share price could rise by $1.14 to reach $28.00 by November 18, 2022. My estimate is $0.40 over the median of five annual price estimates from broker analysts covering the stock

FLO Dividends

lowers Foods' most recently announced quarterly dividend of  $0.21 paid out September 17th. The compounded annual payout of $0.84 yields 3.13% based on yesterday's $26.86 closing price. Flowers Foods Inc has paid quarterly dividends increasing generally annually since December 2002: That will be 21 years of increasing payouts as of next month. 

FLO Returns

Adding the $0.84 annual estimated FLO forward-looking dividend to my $1.14 price upside estimate shows a $1.98 potential gross gain, per share, to be reduced by any costs to trade FLO shares.  

At yesterday's $26.86 price per share, a little under $1000 would buy 37 shares.

A $10 broker fee (if charged) would be paid half at purchase and half at sale and might cost us $0.27 per share.

Subtract that maybe $0.27 brokerage cost from my estimated $1.98 gross gain per share results in a net gain of $1.71 X 37 shares = $63.27 for a 6.33% net gain on a $993.82 investment.

So it is that Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO) shows a possible 6.33% net gain including a 3.13% forward estimated dividend yield. 

Over the next year at this time a $1000 investment in Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO) could generate $31.30 in cash dividends alone. Note that a single share of FLO bought at yesterday's closing price was $26.86! Thus, Flowers Foods Inc's (FLO) share price is $4.44 less than the dividend income from $1000.00 invested. Thus, according to my dogcatcher ideal, now is a prime time to pick up FLO shares. The estimated next-year dividend from $1k invested is over $4 greater than the single share price. Consider yourself alerted. It's a sign!  

All of the estimates above are speculation based on the past history of Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO). Only time and money invested in this stock will determine its market value.