Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price lowered by Bank of America from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. 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 decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.88.

General Mills Stock Up 0.7 %

GIS stock opened at $57.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $31.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.15 and its 200 day moving average is $66.66. General Mills has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.