General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.00.

Several analysts recently commented on GIS shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $56.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.27. General Mills has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.75%.

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.