General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Rating Reiterated by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus restated their buy rating on shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $77.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC upped their price objective 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. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $71.61 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.49. General Mills has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $90.89. The company has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a PE 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 quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,726 shares of company stock worth $1,187,811. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 214.1% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 199.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 409.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently 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.