General Mills’ (GIS) Sector Perform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $70.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GIS. TD Cowen dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.53.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $59.23 on Monday. General Mills has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.42.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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 the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 217,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,885,000 after purchasing an additional 52,262 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 212,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,565,000 after purchasing an additional 5,070 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $271,000. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 14,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 27,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is 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.