General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Receives $69.07 Average PT from Brokerages

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.53.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays cut their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $73.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $40.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in General Mills by 22.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after buying an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,858,000 after buying an additional 501,717 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $377,205,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,151,000 after acquiring an additional 323,090 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is 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 savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.