JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $60.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $62.00 to $60.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

GIS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.24.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $59.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.78. The stock has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.