General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Cut to “Neutral” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler cut shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $35.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $41.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Deutsche Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Zacks Research raised General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on General Mills from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore set a $38.00 target price on General Mills in a report on Monday, September 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $36.24.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $34.32. 6,681,696 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,376,291. General Mills has a 52 week low of $31.17 and a 52 week high of $49.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. General Mills had a negative net margin of 4.89% and a positive return on equity of 21.86%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 13th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently -146.99%.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornermen Financial LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $306,000. Medallion Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 20.7% during the third quarter. Medallion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Lionhunter Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 650.5% during the third quarter. Lionhunter Capital Management LLC now owns 75,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after buying an additional 65,861 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,459,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 16.5% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 292,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,402,000 after buying an additional 41,323 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Recent General Mills Headlines

These are some of the GIS headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: A bullish Motley Fool article calls General Mills a potential buying opportunity after the stock fell about 30%, arguing that familiar brands such as Cheerios, Pillsbury and Blue Buffalo remain valuable. Article: A Once-in-a-Decade Opportunity
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler downgraded General Mills from Overweight to Neutral and cut its price target to $35 from $41. The firm warned the dividend could be reduced by as much as 35% as the company prioritizes debt reduction and growth investment. Article: General Mills’ Hefty Dividend Could Be on the Chopping Block
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage also linked the pressure on shares to the downgrade and target cut ahead of a leadership change and restructuring, adding uncertainty around the company’s turnaround. Article: What’s Going On With General Mills Stock Thursday?

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc. is a food company that develops, manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its products include breakfast cereals, snack bars, baking mixes and refrigerated dough, along with meals and pet food. Its brands include Cheerios, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and Blue Buffalo. The company traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, established in 1866. The General Mills name was adopted in 1928 by the Washburn Crosby Company, a predecessor of today’s business.