General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target Cut to $67.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of General Mills from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and raised their price target for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $70.44.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $63.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.51 and its 200-day moving average is $66.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.40. General Mills has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $77.63.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Operose Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 409.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 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.