JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $72.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

GIS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on General Mills from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $73.50.

General Mills Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $69.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $39.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.36. General Mills has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $90.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.75.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 67,782 shares of company stock valued at $4,365,720. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Adviser Investments LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $323,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in General Mills by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 342,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,935,000 after buying an additional 19,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in General Mills by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 12,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares during the last quarter. 75.31% 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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.