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General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Sets New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

General Mills logo with Consumer Staples background

Key Points

  • General Mills' stock has reached a new 52-week low, trading at $49.01, which is a decline from the previous close of $50.02.
  • Analysts have set varied price targets for General Mills, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.
  • The company declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.61, continuing to demonstrate its commitment to returning value to shareholders.
  • Five stocks we like better than General Mills.

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $49.01 and last traded at $49.23, with a volume of 7296418 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

Read Our Latest Analysis on GIS

General Mills Price Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $52.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion and a PE ratio of 11.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 434.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,138,473,000 after buying an additional 15,480,835 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 8.1% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $589,814,000 after purchasing an additional 741,432 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in General Mills by 4.8% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,588,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,173,000 after purchasing an additional 393,135 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in General Mills by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $514,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 4.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,161,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $428,213,000 after purchasing an additional 315,375 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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