General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,420,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the January 15th total of 23,910,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS opened at $57.53 on Wednesday. General Mills has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.72. The company has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 22.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,565,000 after buying an additional 43,086 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $547,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after buying an additional 104,436 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.