Analysts Set General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Price Target at $72.67

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.67.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GIS shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,151,000 after acquiring an additional 323,090 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in General Mills by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,478,000 after purchasing an additional 148,235 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 100.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in General Mills by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,347,000 after purchasing an additional 263,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock opened at $66.23 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.52. General Mills has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $36.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.