General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Shares Up 1.7% - Here's What Happened

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $62.61 and last traded at $62.02. 1,525,291 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 5,806,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One investment 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, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.69.

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General Mills Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.82. 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 market capitalization of $31.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GIS. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company's stock worth $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company's stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.9% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.