Stifel Nicolaus Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $40.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

GIS has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Zacks Research cut General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut General Mills from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $35.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. BTIG Research started coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on General Mills from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $43.22.

General Mills Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $35.50 on Tuesday. General Mills has a 52 week low of $34.04 and a 52 week high of $57.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $18.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.66%.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at about $222,000. 626 Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 21,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 2,911 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 2,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 8,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 749,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,900,000 after buying an additional 5,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.