General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Receives Buy Rating from Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their buy rating on shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $77.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $72.18.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $71.38 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.15. 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 has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.53.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 54.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 17,726 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,811 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,242,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,423,000 after purchasing an additional 23,400 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,995,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,608,000 after purchasing an additional 379,702 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,527,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,346,000 after purchasing an additional 44,933 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,858,000 after purchasing an additional 501,717 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $377,205,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.