General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.94.

Several research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, April 22nd.

General Mills Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $64.17 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.80. The firm has a market cap of $36.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.12. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $82.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. General Mills’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Operose Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 409.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently 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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.