General Mills’ (GIS) Sector Perform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 price target on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $72.73.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $74.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.54. General Mills has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 55.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 41.8% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 36,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 10,765 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,171,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in General Mills by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 688,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,177,000 after buying an additional 38,021 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 696,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,711,000 after buying an additional 96,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 164.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 18,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 11,298 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.