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

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.50.

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st.

General Mills Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $69.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.78 and a 200 day moving average of $64.74. The firm has a market cap of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. General Mills’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, 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 link. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value 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 $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,782 shares of company stock worth $4,365,720 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GIS. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in General Mills by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.