General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target Increased to $82.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $70.00 to $82.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a buy rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Argus reiterated a hold rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $71.93.

General Mills Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $74.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.44.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. General Mills’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 199.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 409.8% in 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. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 66.3% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 769.2% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 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.