General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) hit a new 52-week low on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $33.00 to $30.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. General Mills traded as low as $32.79 and last traded at $33.3540, with a volume of 465947 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.99.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GIS. Zacks Research cut General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on General Mills from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on General Mills from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BTIG Research started coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on General Mills from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $42.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $342,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 62,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,148,763.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LBP AM SA purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,639,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,320,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1,824.7% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 895,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,628,000 after buying an additional 848,712 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 161.9% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 333,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,800,000 after buying an additional 205,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,445,000 after buying an additional 24,688 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Up 0.6%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12 and a beta of -0.02.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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.