General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Receives Buy Rating from Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus restated their buy rating on shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $77.00 target price on the stock.

GIS has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Up 1.1 %

GIS stock opened at $71.17 on Monday. General Mills has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $90.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 54.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 214.1% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 199.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in General Mills by 409.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.