General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Shares Gap Down to $67.26

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $67.26, but opened at $62.41. General Mills shares last traded at $63.56, with a volume of 2,596,631 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.72.

General Mills Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.79. The firm has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.12. 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 (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be 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 is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Operose Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 214.1% during the 3rd 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 purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 199.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 409.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Mills

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.