Piper Sandler Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $45.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective trimmed by Piper Sandler from $53.00 to $45.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered General Mills from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Zacks Research cut General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $44.61.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $37.04 on Thursday. General Mills has a twelve month low of $37.01 and a twelve month high of $62.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06 and a beta of -0.05.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 59.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 4.2% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 5,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. boosted its stake in General Mills by 2.6% in the third quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 8,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in General Mills by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group grew its position in General Mills by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Allegheny Financial Group now owns 4,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting General Mills

Here are the key news stories impacting General Mills this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed its buy/overweight stance on GIS (despite trimming its target earlier), signaling continued broker support for the turnaround thesis. Piper Sandler Reaffirms Their Buy Rating on General Mills (GIS)
• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital reaffirmed its buy/outperform view on GIS, providing another vote of confidence from a large broker. RBC Capital Keeps Their Buy Rating on General Mills (GIS)
• Positive Sentiment: Diamond Hill Capital’s Mid-Cap strategy disclosed a new position in General Mills in Q4, indicating some institutional accumulation at these levels. Diamond Hill Mid Cap Strategy Initiated a Position in General Mills (GIS) in Q4
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies reaffirmed a hold rating, reflecting a wait-and-see view: management’s recovery plan is being acknowledged but not yet rewarded by all analysts. Jefferies Reaffirms Their Hold Rating on General Mills (GIS)
• Neutral Sentiment: Management highlighted product innovation (more protein/fiber SKUs like Cheerios Protein) and portfolio reshaping (Brazil unit sale) as recovery levers; these are strategic positives but will take time to materially reverse top-line/margin trends. General Mills Bets on Protein and Fiber to Win Back Consumers
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 results missed on EPS and showed an 8.4% YoY revenue decline; analysts flagged a tough consumer environment and lowered near-term forecasts. General Mills’ FQ3 miss highlights tough consumer environment — analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Several brokers slashed price targets and/or lowered ratings after the print: UBS cut its target to $35 and kept a Sell; JPMorgan, UBS, Goldman, TD Cowen and others trimmed targets or moved to underweight/neutral — putting fresh downside risk and pressuring sentiment. General Mills price target lowered to $35 from $40 at UBS
• Negative Sentiment: Investor commentary (including Jim Cramer) and post-earnings notes highlight that management’s messaging and near-term guidance weren’t convincing, amplifying the sell-side cuts and heavy trading. Jim Cramer on General Mills: “Management Tried to Turn Minuses Into Pluses, But the Crowd Wasn’t Buying It”

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.