Flowers Foods Debt to Equity

Flowers Foods posts a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.7. That is above the Consumer Staples sector average of -0.88. Comparing that reading with peers and prior periods is usually more useful than looking at the number in isolation.

For Consumer Staples stocks, a debt-to-equity ratio near -0.88 is typical. Flowers Foods's 1.7 is higher that level. That is roughly 293.3% above the sector mean. Whether that is a warning or an opportunity depends on growth outlook and other fundamentals shown elsewhere on Stockcircle.

Flowers Foods's debt-to-equity ratio of 1.7 comes from dividing a price-based measure by a related financial statistic. Changes can come from the stock price moving, the underlying fundamental shifting, or both. Track both the level and the trend — a rising multiple on falling fundamentals is a different story than a rising multiple on rising earnings.

Context for FLO's debt-to-equity ratio usually means three checks: (1) trend versus prior periods, (2) level versus peers (average -0.88), and (3) consistency with growth and profitability. This page covers the first two; Flowers Foods's other metric pages and overview cover the third.

Judging Flowers Foods against Consumer Staples peers is usually better than using a market-wide rule of thumb. Business models inside Consumer Staples are more comparable, which makes gaps in debt-to-equity ratio easier to interpret. Start with 1.7 here, then scan peer and history charts to see if the gap is persistent.