Brokerages Set General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Target Price at $69.07

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.53.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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, June 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter valued at $559,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,202,000. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.9% during the second quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 13,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 132,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in General Mills by 4.4% in the second quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $73.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $40.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $68.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.09. General Mills has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

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.