Wells Fargo & Company Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $30.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its price target on General Mills from $33 to $30 and kept an underweight rating, implying about 9.75% downside from the prior close.
• Other analysts have also turned more cautious, with several firms lowering targets; MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $42.44.
• General Mills is trading near its 52-week low after missing earnings and revenue estimates in its last quarterly report, with EPS of $0.64 versus $0.73 expected and revenue down 8.4% year over year.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential downside of 9.75% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GIS. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $41.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Mills from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $42.44.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of General Mills stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $33.24. 1,204,296 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,921,174. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13 and a beta of -0.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.66 and a 200 day moving average of $42.86. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $32.79 and a fifty-two week high of $55.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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 firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that General Mills will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total transaction of $342,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 86,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,947,288.54. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $275,827.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 62,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,148,763.50. This represents a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in General Mills during the second quarter worth about $9,188,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,118 shares of the company's stock worth $3,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 112.6% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 8,971 shares of the company's stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,037 shares of the company's stock worth $4,250,000 after purchasing an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 334.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 19,542 shares of the company's stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 15,041 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

About General Mills

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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