General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Shares Gap Down to $67.26

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $67.26, but opened at $62.41. General Mills shares last traded at $63.56, with a volume of 2,596,631 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GIS. Sanford C. Bernstein raised General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.72.

General Mills Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $36.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.79.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its 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. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at about $134,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 1st quarter worth approximately $549,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 735,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,462,000 after purchasing an additional 18,900 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $916,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the first quarter worth $463,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.