General Mills Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:GIS)

by · The Markets Daily

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS – Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 12,836 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 40% compared to the typical volume of 9,189 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GIS. UBS Group set a $33.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of General Mills from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded General Mills from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $39.16.

Read Our Latest Research Report on GIS

General Mills Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $35.95. 5,131,714 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,502,486. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a PE ratio of -199.35 and a beta of -0.03. General Mills has a 52-week low of $31.75 and a 52-week high of $53.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.75.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.15. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.37% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The firm had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. General Mills has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.000-3.200 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently -1,355.56%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $275,827.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 62,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,148,763.50. This represents a 11.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total transaction of $342,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 86,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,947,288.54. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new position in General Mills during the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 139.8% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.

Featured Articles