Barclays Increases General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $74.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $67.00 to $74.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Argus restated a hold rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. 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 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $72.73.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $74.19 on Friday. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.63. The company has a market cap of $41.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. 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 (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 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 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.