General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $65.69.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GIS. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 17th.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,211,000 after buying an additional 85,612 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $547,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in General Mills by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 5,853 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE GIS opened at $59.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

About General Mills

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.