General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.73.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 69.2% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 101.5% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $51.60 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $27.99 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.59. General Mills has a 52 week low of $49.86 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.51%.

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.