General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.18.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock.

General Mills Stock Up 1.9 %

GIS opened at $70.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $66.85 and its 200 day moving average is $65.30. The stock has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 54.13%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its stake in General Mills by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its stake in General Mills by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.