General Mills’ (GIS) “Sector Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on 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 set a buy rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $72.73.

General Mills Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE GIS opened at $74.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS 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 business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of General Mills by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $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% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 5.0% in the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.