Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

General Mills (NYSE:GIS)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.65% from the company’s current price.

GIS has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.44.

General Mills Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE GIS opened at $63.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.75. General Mills has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $77.63. The company has a market capitalization of $35.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.65.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 214.1% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 199.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 409.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

About General Mills

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.