General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target Cut to $45.00 by Analysts at TD Cowen

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target decreased by TD Cowen from $48.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock.

GIS has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Mills from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.11.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $47.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $67.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.68. The company has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of -0.07.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 101.5% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth $28,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the second quarter worth about $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.