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

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $56.92 and last traded at $56.01, with a volume of 45493 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.88.

General Mills Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.56.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Company Profile

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.