General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,470,000 shares, a decrease of 5.5% from the December 15th total of 23,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,541 shares of company stock worth $3,321,170. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.31.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $59.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.52. General Mills has a 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

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.