JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $54.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $60.00 to $54.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on GIS. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $58.78 on Thursday. General Mills has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.00 and a 200-day moving average of $65.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 5.9% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 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 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.