General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Shares Down 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) shares were down 2.6% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $32.42 and last traded at $32.5560. 6,505,001 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 9,570,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GIS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded General Mills from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on General Mills from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.59.

General Mills Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of -19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.60.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. General Mills’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently -146.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 88,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,857,000 after acquiring an additional 6,161 shares during the period. Bell Bank increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 182,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,865,000 after purchasing an additional 14,075 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 21,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 8,146 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing Inc raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing Inc now owns 10,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 14.5% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 117,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,775,000 after purchasing an additional 14,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company’s brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie’s, Totino’s, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.