General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup dropped their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of GIS stock opened at $51.60 on Friday. General Mills has a 12-month low of $49.86 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.49 and a 200-day moving average of $57.49. The company has a market capitalization of $27.99 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,178,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company's stock worth $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 5,853 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,860 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in General Mills by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 58,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,702,000 after purchasing an additional 29,476 shares during the period. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in General Mills by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 67,230 shares of the company's stock worth $4,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,222 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.