General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold” Rating

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.73.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on GIS

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock opened at $50.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. General Mills has a one year low of $49.86 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $27.63 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,211,000 after buying an additional 85,612 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,900,000 after acquiring an additional 46,536 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 5,853 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $486,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About General Mills

(Get Free Report)

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.

See Also