General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Short Interest Up 8.6% in November

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 21,180,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the November 15th total of 19,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

General Mills Trading Up 0.5 %

General Mills stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $65.93. 5,979,179 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,909,390. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. General Mills has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,055,870.64. This represents a 35.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in General Mills by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. LCM Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

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.