Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Barclays from $68.00 to $65.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.74% from the stock’s previous close.

GIS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America dropped their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.53.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS opened at $59.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.42. The stock has a market cap of $32.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % 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 Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 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.