Citigroup Increases General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $76.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price hoisted by Citigroup from $68.00 to $76.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Argus reissued a hold rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.93.

General Mills Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of GIS opened at $74.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in General Mills by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 36,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 10,765 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,171,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in General Mills by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 688,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,177,000 after acquiring an additional 38,021 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in General Mills by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 696,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,711,000 after purchasing an additional 96,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 164.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 18,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 11,298 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.