General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.56.

General Mills Stock Performance

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

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of General Mills by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 24,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in General Mills by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.