General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.18.

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. HSBC upped their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company increased its stake in General Mills by 2.6% in the third quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.1 %

General Mills stock opened at $69.89 on Wednesday. General Mills has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $90.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.97.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.