Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $63.00 to $61.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on GIS. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE:GIS traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.38. 7,684,104 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,627,450. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $27.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.02. General Mills has a 12 month low of $50.25 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $54.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.57.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 13.02%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 4.6% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 0.4% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock worth $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 1.5% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

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.