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

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.44.

Several research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 214.1% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 409.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $63.29 on Thursday. General Mills has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $77.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.74.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.76%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.