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

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.69.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho decreased their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th.

General Mills Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $59.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in General Mills by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.