Citigroup Lowers General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $68.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $71.00 to $68.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded General Mills from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $70.44.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $63.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.40. General Mills has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $77.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.74.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.76%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 214.1% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 409.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.