General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Shares Down 2.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) dropped 2.6% on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $32.42 and last traded at $32.5560. 6,505,001 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 9,570,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 price target on General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Evercore set a $38.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of General Mills from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.59.

General Mills Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -146.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the second quarter worth $27,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.