General Mills, Inc. (GIS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.61 on November 2nd

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share on Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th.

General Mills has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 5 years. General Mills has a dividend payout ratio of 58.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect General Mills to earn $3.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 76.5%.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $32.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.10. General Mills has a 12 month low of $31.75 and a 12 month high of $51.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a PE ratio of -19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a negative net margin of 4.89% and a positive return on equity of 21.86%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Equities analysts predict that General Mills will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Evercore set a $38.00 target price on General Mills in a research report on Monday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Mills from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on General Mills from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on General Mills from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $36.59.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its products include cereal, snack bars, refrigerated dough, baking mixes, yogurt, soup, meals, frozen foods, and pet food, serving retail, foodservice, and pet channels.

The company’s portfolio includes well-known brands such as Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Progresso, Totino’s, Annie’s, and Blue Buffalo. General Mills sells its products primarily in the United States and also serves consumers in international markets across multiple regions.

General Mills traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, established in 1856, and adopted the General Mills name following a 1928 combination of several milling businesses.