General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $51.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. General Mills traded as low as $51.70 and last traded at $51.83, with a volume of 316537 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.41.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in General Mills by 3.5% during the first 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. grew its stake in General Mills by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 0.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its stake in General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Down 3.5%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $28.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.02.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

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.

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