General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Short Interest Update

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,880,000 shares, an increase of 8.2% from the August 31st total of 16,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

General Mills Stock Up 1.0 %

GIS stock opened at $74.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.30 and a 200 day moving average of $68.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. General Mills has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.73.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 128,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,571,314.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 16.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of General Mills by 22.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after buying an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of General Mills by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,858,000 after buying an additional 501,717 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in General Mills by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,151,000 after purchasing an additional 323,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in General Mills by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,478,000 after purchasing an additional 148,235 shares in the last quarter. 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.