General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 EPS.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS opened at $74.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.45 and a 200 day moving average of $68.40. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s payout ratio is 55.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays cut their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.60.

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.