General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) shares reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $61.45 and last traded at $61.51, with a volume of 5390024 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $63.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.56.

General Mills Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $34.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,624 shares of company stock valued at $3,897,326. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.