General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Given New $49.00 Price Target at UBS Group

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective cut by UBS Group from $52.00 to $49.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on General Mills and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.50.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $50.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $27.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.02. General Mills has a 52 week low of $50.24 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,315,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in General Mills by 7.6% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 584,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,937,000 after purchasing an additional 41,394 shares during the period. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at $96,000. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 68,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,119,000 after purchasing an additional 6,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.