Jefferies Financial Group Increases General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $62.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $58.00 to $62.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

GIS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.24.

General Mills Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $60.03 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.83. The company has a market capitalization of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $271,000. Probity Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 14,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 27,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 2,123 shares during the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $386,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.