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General Mills (GIS) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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General Mills (GIS - Free Report) closed at $50.89 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.59% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.16%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.01%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.26%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and other packaged foods had gained 0.31% over the past month. This has lagged the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.81% and outpaced the S&P 500's loss of 0.19% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from GIS as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect GIS to post earnings of $0.75 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 5.06%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.23 billion, up 8.74% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.14 per share and revenue of $16.93 billion. These totals would mark changes of +0.96% and +7.56%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for GIS should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. GIS is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

Investors should also note GIS's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 16.3. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 19.81, which means GIS is trading at a discount to the group.

Investors should also note that GIS has a PEG ratio of 2.17 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Food - Miscellaneous stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.26 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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