JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target reduced by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $60.00 to $54.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 7.19% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.06.

General Mills Trading Down 1.7 %

General Mills stock traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,729,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,952,204. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.42. General Mills has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.