General Mills’ (GIS) “Sector Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

General Mills (NYSE:GIS)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reissued by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.73% from the stock’s current price.

GIS has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.71.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $61.01. The company had a trading volume of 845,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,933,673. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.10 and a 200-day moving average of $65.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG 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.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Mills

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.