General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $58.20 and last traded at $58.28, with a volume of 1420468 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

General Mills Stock Up 0.8 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after acquiring an additional 43,086 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,649,000 after acquiring an additional 104,436 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 105.8% during the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 144,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,697,000 after purchasing an additional 74,456 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.