General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $78.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential upside of 19.95% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on GIS. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GIS traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.02. 521,244 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,295,149. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.45. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $57.94 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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 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.