General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Earns “Buy” Rating from Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reissued 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 target price on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. HSBC upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Up 1.1 %

GIS opened at $71.61 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 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 0.40. General Mills has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $90.89.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,726 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,811. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company raised its stake in General Mills by 2.6% in the third quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in General Mills by 40.6% in the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TrueWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.3% during the third quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.