Short Interest in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Grows By 5.2%

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,510,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the October 31st total of 18,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.67.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS traded down $0.44 on Tuesday, hitting $66.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,144,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,893,693. General Mills has a one year low of $61.47 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in General Mills by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 36,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 10,765 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after buying an additional 43,086 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after acquiring an additional 104,436 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 105.8% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 144,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,697,000 after acquiring an additional 74,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in General Mills by 6.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,206,000 after acquiring an additional 69,902 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company Profile

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.