General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Short Interest Down 5.5% in December

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,470,000 shares, a decrease of 5.5% from the December 15th total of 23,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Approximately 4.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,458,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,010,859. General Mills has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $63.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.52.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock worth $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock worth $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in General Mills by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 6,114.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 450,451 shares of the company's stock worth $33,266,000 after buying an additional 443,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 323,090 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.31.

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.