General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target Cut to $72.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $78.00 to $72.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS opened at $60.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.40. General Mills has a one year low of $57.94 and a one year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth $44,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.