Analysts Set General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Price Target at $65.69

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.69.

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company.

General Mills Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $59.83 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.52. General Mills has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $32.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $547,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 5,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 72,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.