General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Falls 1.6% – Here’s Why

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s share price fell 1.6% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $32.37 and last traded at $32.5860. Approximately 8,584,336 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 9,606,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 price objective on General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on General Mills from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Mills from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $36.59.

General Mills Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.42 billion, a PE ratio of -19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a negative net margin of 4.89% and a positive return on equity of 21.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently -146.99%.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OceanIQ Capital LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. OceanIQ Capital LLC now owns 8,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.2% in the third quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 42,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 21.0% in the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 27,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 4,836 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.9% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 16,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth about $1,019,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company’s brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie’s, Totino’s, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.