Stifel Nicolaus Boosts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $82.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $70.00 to $82.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup upped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a buy rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $72.73.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $74.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.92 and its 200-day moving average is $68.54. General Mills has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after acquiring an additional 8,444,312 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in General Mills by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after buying an additional 2,488,341 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 100.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368,563 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 6,140.4% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,807,000 after acquiring an additional 930,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in General Mills during the first quarter worth $36,177,000. 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.