General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Twenty-one brokers give General Mills an average recommendation of "Reduce" (6 sell, 11 hold, 4 buy) with a 12‑month average target of $43.22.
• Earnings and trading pressure: General Mills missed quarterly EPS ($0.64 vs. $0.73 expected) and revenue was down 8.4% year‑over‑year, while shares trade near the one‑year low (opened $34.74) with a P/E of 8.49.
• Fresh downgrades and lower price targets: Multiple major firms (Bank of America, Mizuho, Wells Fargo, Zacks) have recently cut ratings or targets, with some revised targets falling into the low $30s.

Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.2222.

Several research analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Bank of America lowered General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of General Mills from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $35.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS opened at $34.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.57 and a 200-day moving average of $43.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.56. General Mills has a 1-year low of $34.04 and a 1-year high of $55.93.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts expect that General Mills will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GIS. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of General Mills by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,717,972 shares of the company's stock worth $1,700,060,000 after purchasing an additional 145,701 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,697,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $915,953,000 after purchasing an additional 488,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,197,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $704,170,000 after purchasing an additional 172,200 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in General Mills by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,956,665 shares of the company's stock worth $494,548,000 after buying an additional 1,368,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in General Mills by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,837,490 shares of the company's stock worth $457,443,000 after buying an additional 200,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Company Profile

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.

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