Stifel Nicolaus Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $65.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $72.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

GIS has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Mizuho dropped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.88.

General Mills Trading Up 3.1 %

GIS opened at $61.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.89 and a 200 day moving average of $66.56.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter worth $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is 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.