[Biz Journals] General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS)(TREND ANALYSIS) is shopping around for a new media agency.
The Golden Valley-based food company is launching its first media review since 2001, when it hired London-based Zenith Optimedia to do its buying, according to a report in Advertising Age. General Mills spent $829.8 million on media last year.
The change comes shortly after the retirement of longtime Chief Marketing Officer Mark Addicks. Ann Simonds, formerly the head of the General Mills baking division, has taken over for Addicks.
General Mills (NYSE; GIS) Is Minnesota’s sixth-largest public company, according to Business Journal research.
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General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) is currently trading 2.49% below its 52-week-high, 16.49% above its 52-week-low. The 1-year range for the stock is $48.32 – $57.73. General Mills Inc (GIS) has a price to earnings ratio of 24.26 versus Consumer Goods sector average of 13.93. GIS stock price has outperformed the S&P 500 by 4.5%. The Diversified Food company is currently valued at $33.55 billion and its share price closed the last trading session at $56.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.24 and a 200-day moving average of $54.08.
General Mills Inc (GIS) current short interest stands at 18.19 million shares. It has increased by 3% from the same period of last month. Around 4% of the company’s shares, which are float, are short sold. With a 10-days average volume of 2.2 million shares, the number of days required to cover the short positions stand at 8.3 days.
The company is expected to announce next quarter earnings on July 01, at consensus estimate of $0.71. General Mills Inc (GIS) reported last quarter earnings on March 18. The Diversified Food company announced earnings per share of $0.7 against a consensus Street estimate of $0.67, beating the average estimate by $0.03. This corresponds to an increase of $0.05 compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
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There are currently nineteen analysts that cover GIS stock. Of those nineteen, four have a Buy rating, ten have a Hold rating and five have a Sell rating. On a consensus basis this yields to a Hold rating. The consensus target price stands at $54.6.
The most recent analyst activity consisted of Deutsche Bank reiterating their Hold stance on June 1. Deutsche Bank increased their price target on GIS from $54 to $55. This corresponds to a 2.29% downside from the last closing price. On the date of report, the stock closed at $56.29.
Goldman Sachs upgraded their Sell rating to Neutral on April 20, and increased their price target on GIS stock from $47 to $56. This corresponds to a 0.52% downside from the last closing price. On the date of report, the stock closed at $56.45.
Another research firm was Citigroup who reiterated their Buy stance on March 19. Citigroup increased their price target on General Mills Inc from $58 to $60. This translates to a 6.59% upside from the last closing price. On the date of report, the stock closed at $52.13.
Company profile
General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded and packaged consumer foods worldwide. The Company also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries.
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