General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $31.62 and last traded at $31.5330, with a volume of 926421 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.16.

Key Stories Impacting General Mills

Here are the key news stories impacting General Mills this week:

• Positive Sentiment: General Mills maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.61 per share, payable November 2 to shareholders of record October 13. The annualized payout is $2.44 per share, representing an attractive yield of roughly 7.6% at the indicated share price. The company and its predecessor have paid dividends continuously for 128 years. General Mills Quarterly Dividend Declared
• Positive Sentiment: The appointment of longtime insider Dana McNabb could provide operational continuity. McNabb, currently chief operating officer and a 27-year General Mills veteran, will become CEO on January 1, 2027. General Mills names insider McNabb as CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Current CEO Jeff Harmening will become executive chair when McNabb takes over. The planned transition may preserve strategic knowledge, but investors will watch whether the new leadership can restore profitable growth. General Mills Announces Dana McNabb as Chief Executive Officer
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ consensus target price is reported at $36.59, implying potential upside from the current level, although the target does not resolve concerns about the company’s fundamentals. General Mills consensus target price
• Negative Sentiment: Recent first-quarter results showed sales falling 2.8% year over year to about $4.39 billion, while net income dropped sharply to $397 million from $1.20 billion. Earnings per share declined to $0.74 from $2.22, reinforcing concerns about the difficult turnaround facing the incoming CEO. General Mills profit drop and completed buyback

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Mills from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on General Mills from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.59.

General Mills Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.10. The stock has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a PE ratio of -18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of -0.01.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given 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 dividend yield of 7.8%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -146.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 139.8% during the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the first quarter valued at $27,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its products include cereal, snack bars, refrigerated dough, baking mixes, yogurt, soup, meals, frozen foods, and pet food, serving retail, foodservice, and pet channels.

The company’s portfolio includes well-known brands such as Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Progresso, Totino’s, Annie’s, and Blue Buffalo. General Mills sells its products primarily in the United States and also serves consumers in international markets across multiple regions.

General Mills traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, established in 1856, and adopted the General Mills name following a 1928 combination of several milling businesses.