General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target Lowered to $72.00 at Evercore ISI

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price cut by Evercore ISI from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $70.44.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock opened at $63.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $35.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.12. General Mills has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $77.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.51 and a 200-day moving average of $66.75.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.52 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.76%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in General Mills by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after acquiring an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $377,205,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in General Mills by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in General Mills by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,442,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,254,000 after buying an additional 1,778,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 257.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,061,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,954,000 after buying an additional 765,070 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.