General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Sets New 12-Month Low - Here's Why

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $49.86 and last traded at $50.77, with a volume of 500572 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $53.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $27.87 billion and a PE ratio of 12.53.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock worth $4,376,573,000 after buying an additional 1,868,508 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 434.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,138,473,000 after acquiring an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock worth $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 136,895 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company's stock worth $589,814,000 after acquiring an additional 741,432 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,253,483 shares during 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.