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

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.67.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GIS. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors boosted its position in General Mills by 400.0% during the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock opened at $65.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills has a one year low of $61.47 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.63.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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 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.