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

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.99.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America cut 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Mills from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. TD Cowen cut their target price on General Mills from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $42.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $342,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,947,288.54. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider directly 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 139.8% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 0.6%

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

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal 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.