General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Hits New 52-Week Low - Should You Sell?

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $49.04 and last traded at $49.14, with a volume of 6257854 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.44. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $52.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is 59.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in General Mills by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 0.4% during the 1st 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 increased its position in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently 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.