General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.60.

Several brokerages recently commented on GIS. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $74.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. General Mills has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $68.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 16.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after buying an additional 2,488,341 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of General Mills by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,858,000 after buying an additional 501,717 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $377,205,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in General Mills by 6.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,151,000 after acquiring an additional 323,090 shares during the last quarter. 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.