General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $45.65 and last traded at $45.8160, with a volume of 2893117 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Bernstein Bank reduced their target price on General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.82.

General Mills Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.18 and a 200-day moving average of $50.23.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 46.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 5.0% during the second quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 4,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in General Mills by 3.1% in the second quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc now owns 6,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 5.0% in the second quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.