General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Shares Down 2.3% – What’s Next?

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s share price dropped 2.3% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $34.24 and last traded at $34.3870. 6,186,602 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 9,560,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Evercore set a $38.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, September 14th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.59.

General Mills Price Performance

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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.03 and its 200-day moving average is $35.55. The stock has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a PE ratio of -20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. General Mills had a negative net margin of 4.89% and a positive return on equity of 21.86%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -146.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in General Mills in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company’s brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie’s, Totino’s, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.