General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts' consensus: Reduce. Twenty firms cover General Mills with a consensus "Reduce" rating (6 sell, 10 hold, 4 buy) and an average 1-year price target of about $43.56, with several brokers recently cutting targets.
• General Mills missed the quarter with EPS of $0.64 versus $0.73 expected and revenue down 8.4% year-over-year to $4.44 billion; shares trade around $36.78, below the 50‑day ($42.56) and 200‑day ($45.51) moving averages.
• The company declared a $0.61 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.44), implying a ~6.6% yield and a payout ratio near 59.7%, which may interest income-focused investors.

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the twenty ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.5556.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of General Mills from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th.

General Mills Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $36.78 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. General Mills has a twelve month low of $35.63 and a twelve month high of $59.49. The stock has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors boosted its position in General Mills by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 17,267 shares of the company's stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 8,257 shares during the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 190,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,882,000 after buying an additional 5,593 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in General Mills by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,269,781 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,040,000 after buying an additional 109,063 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc NYSE: GIS is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company's portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.

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