UBS Group Begins Coverage on General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

UBS Group began coverage on shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group's price objective points to a potential downside of 2.90% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.00.

General Mills Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of GIS traded down $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.61. 1,697,704 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,395,308. General Mills has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.27. The stock has a market cap of $30.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,376,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,508 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock worth $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 136,895 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in General Mills by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock worth $514,101,000 after buying an additional 1,253,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.