The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $40.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $47.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded General Mills from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Bank of America downgraded General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of General Mills from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $44.61.

General Mills Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $37.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. General Mills has a twelve month low of $37.01 and a twelve month high of $62.61. The stock has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.63.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in General Mills by 255.8% during the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 59,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 42,986 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth about $417,508,000. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,445,000 after acquiring an additional 24,688 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 161.9% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 333,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,800,000 after purchasing an additional 205,981 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting General Mills

Here are the key news stories impacting General Mills this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed its buy/overweight stance on GIS (despite trimming its target earlier), signaling continued broker support for the turnaround thesis. Piper Sandler Reaffirms Their Buy Rating on General Mills (GIS)
• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital reaffirmed its buy/outperform view on GIS, providing another vote of confidence from a large broker. RBC Capital Keeps Their Buy Rating on General Mills (GIS)
• Positive Sentiment: Diamond Hill Capital’s Mid-Cap strategy disclosed a new position in General Mills in Q4, indicating some institutional accumulation at these levels. Diamond Hill Mid Cap Strategy Initiated a Position in General Mills (GIS) in Q4
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies reaffirmed a hold rating, reflecting a wait-and-see view: management’s recovery plan is being acknowledged but not yet rewarded by all analysts. Jefferies Reaffirms Their Hold Rating on General Mills (GIS)
• Neutral Sentiment: Management highlighted product innovation (more protein/fiber SKUs like Cheerios Protein) and portfolio reshaping (Brazil unit sale) as recovery levers; these are strategic positives but will take time to materially reverse top-line/margin trends. General Mills Bets on Protein and Fiber to Win Back Consumers
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 results missed on EPS and showed an 8.4% YoY revenue decline; analysts flagged a tough consumer environment and lowered near-term forecasts. General Mills’ FQ3 miss highlights tough consumer environment — analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Several brokers slashed price targets and/or lowered ratings after the print: UBS cut its target to $35 and kept a Sell; JPMorgan, UBS, Goldman, TD Cowen and others trimmed targets or moved to underweight/neutral — putting fresh downside risk and pressuring sentiment. General Mills price target lowered to $35 from $40 at UBS
• Negative Sentiment: Investor commentary (including Jim Cramer) and post-earnings notes highlight that management’s messaging and near-term guidance weren’t convincing, amplifying the sell-side cuts and heavy trading. Jim Cramer on General Mills: “Management Tried to Turn Minuses Into Pluses, But the Crowd Wasn’t Buying It”

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.