Evercore ISI Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $72.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective reduced by Evercore ISI from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on GIS. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $70.44.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $63.26 on Friday. General Mills has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $77.63. The company has a market capitalization of $35.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.51 and a 200 day moving average of $66.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its position in General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in General Mills by 40.6% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 5,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.