General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $36.76 and last traded at $37.1360, with a volume of 1441540 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $44.61.

General Mills Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $44.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.42. The stock has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.56.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 59.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GIS. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 255.8% in the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 59,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after buying an additional 42,986 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Mills during the second quarter valued at approximately $417,508,000. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 7.7% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,445,000 after buying an additional 24,688 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its position in General Mills by 161.9% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 333,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,800,000 after acquiring an additional 205,981 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 22.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,913 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.