General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Jumps 7.9% – Time to Buy?

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) were up 7.9% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $35.19 and last traded at $35.1520. 11,385,812 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 9,586,374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GIS. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on General Mills from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 target price on General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of General Mills from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $36.59.

General Mills Stock Up 7.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a PE ratio of -21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.03 and its 200 day moving average is $35.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.70.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 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 Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -146.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in General Mills during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,195,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 771,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,724,000 after buying an additional 222,602 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 52.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 127,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,438,000 after buying an additional 43,958 shares during the period. Delta Global Management LP acquired a new position in General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at $1,849,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,342,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company’s brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie’s, Totino’s, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.