Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Mizuho from $62.00 to $60.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.69.

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General Mills Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE GIS traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $57.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,287,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,939,727. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.00 and a 200 day moving average of $65.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. General Mills's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the 3rd 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 period. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $547,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 72,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 4,839 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company's stock worth $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 5,853 shares during the last quarter. 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.