Zacks Research Upgrades General Mills (NYSE:GIS) to Hold

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on GIS. Barclays cut their target price on General Mills from $41.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on General Mills from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of General Mills from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $39.16.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $38.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -215.94 and a beta of -0.03. General Mills has a 52 week low of $31.75 and a 52 week high of $51.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.68.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.15. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.37% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The business had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. General Mills has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.000-3.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Mills will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,188,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in General Mills by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,374,000 after buying an additional 2,552 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in General Mills by 112.6% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 8,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 4.9% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,250,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 334.2% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 19,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 15,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company Profile

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.