General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $59.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 4.05%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.53.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.