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

Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $80.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $78.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

General Mills Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $66.69 on Friday. General Mills has a one year low of $61.47 and a one year high of $75.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.