General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $72.00 to $65.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. General Mills traded as low as $57.85 and last traded at $58.06, with a volume of 3432636 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.82.

GIS has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen cut their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.31 and its 200-day moving average is $67.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.