$4.79 Billion in Sales Expected for General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) This Quarter

Wall Street analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS – Get Rating) will post $4.79 billion in sales for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Six analysts have issued estimates for General Mills’ earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $4.73 billion and the highest is $4.94 billion. General Mills posted sales of $4.52 billion during the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive year over year growth rate of 6%. The company is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that General Mills will report full year sales of $18.89 billion for the current year, with estimates ranging from $18.83 billion to $19.04 billion. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the business will post sales of $19.22 billion, with estimates ranging from $18.91 billion to $19.76 billion. Zacks’ sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that cover General Mills.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.55 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 23.10%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS.

GIS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, December 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI restated a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, March 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.09.

General Mills stock opened at $71.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $43.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. General Mills has a twelve month low of $56.67 and a twelve month high of $71.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.77.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 7th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 54.40%.

In other General Mills news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $748,603.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,878 shares in the company, valued at $2,324,369.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Shawn P. Ogrady sold 27,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $1,887,411.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 87,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,085,003. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at $5,244,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,671,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,457,000 after acquiring an additional 104,762 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.0% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 392,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,456,000 after acquiring an additional 15,225 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 198,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,408,000 after acquiring an additional 7,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $3,149,000. 73.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Mills (Get Rating)

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers 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 salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.

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