General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stock Rated “Reduce” by Sell-Side Brokerages

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.59.

GIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded General Mills from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $34.27 on Friday. General Mills has a twelve month low of $31.17 and a twelve month high of $49.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that General Mills will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently -146.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GIS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,181,608,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the second quarter worth approximately $129,298,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $126,097,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $121,707,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at $105,889,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company’s brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie’s, Totino’s, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.