Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GIS. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.56.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $63.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.11. General Mills has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. This trade represents a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,571,314.96. This trade represents a 6.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,230 shares of company stock worth $4,547,822. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter worth about $27,000. First Foundation Advisors increased its position in General Mills by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.