General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Receives $73.56 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.56.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $63.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $61.47 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.11. The company has a market capitalization of $35.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. This represents a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,230 shares of company stock worth $4,547,822. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors raised its position in General Mills by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 46.7% during the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 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 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.