Stifel Nicolaus Lowers General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $56.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $65.00 to $56.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.50.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.38. The stock had a trading volume of 7,684,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,606,334. General Mills has a 12 month low of $50.25 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company's 50-day moving average is $54.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.57.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. General Mills's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.75%.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 69.2% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.