Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target decreased by analysts at Citigroup from $71.00 to $67.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 3.35% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.94.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $64.83. 2,289,080 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,940,309. General Mills has a one year low of $61.47 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 3.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 792,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,563,000 after acquiring an additional 27,847 shares during the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL increased its position in shares of General Mills by 9.3% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 14,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in General Mills by 28.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 45,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 438,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in General Mills by 72.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 517,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,241,000 after purchasing an additional 217,774 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.