General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $58.20 and last traded at $58.28, with a volume of 1420468 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.31.

General Mills Stock Down 0.4 %

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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,541 shares of company stock worth $3,321,170. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter worth $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.