Bank of America Upgrades General Mills (NYSE:GIS) to Buy

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $80.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $78.00. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.96% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $66.69 on Friday. General Mills has a 1 year low of $61.47 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.20 and its 200-day moving average is $68.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. General Mills’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors boosted its holdings in General Mills by 400.0% during the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.