General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $56.92 and last traded at $56.01, with a volume of 45493 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.88.

General Mills Trading Up 2.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $32.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,193,000. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $798,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $111,000. City National Bank of Florida MSD bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in General Mills by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 49,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,125,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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 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.