General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Falls 2.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• General Mills shares fell 2.6% to about $32.56, with trading volume below its average. The stock remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.75 versus the $0.72 consensus and revenue of $4.39 billion versus estimates of $4.35 billion, though revenue declined 2.8% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing a $2.44 annualized payout and approximately a 7.5% yield. Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $36.59 target price.

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) dropped 2.6% on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $32.42 and last traded at $32.5560. Approximately 6,505,001 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 9,570,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, September 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 price objective on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on General Mills from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered General Mills from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $36.59.

General Mills Trading Down 2.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.61, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.60.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -146.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the second quarter valued at about $2,181,608,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of General Mills by 2.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,672,503 shares of the company's stock worth $248,344,000 after acquiring an additional 143,265 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.4% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,200,299 shares of the company's stock worth $156,335,000 after acquiring an additional 58,608 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,140,772 shares of the company's stock worth $144,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 2nd quarter worth about $129,298,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company's brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie's, Totino's, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.