General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.69.

A number of research firms have commented on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

General Mills Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE GIS opened at $59.21 on Friday. General Mills has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $32.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $59.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 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 paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.