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

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $61.45 and last traded at $61.51, with a volume of 5390024 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.56.

General Mills Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $34.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.88.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,624 shares of company stock worth $3,897,326. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 1.7% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company's stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in General Mills by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.