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General Mills (GIS) Stock Moves -0.06%: What You Should Know

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General Mills (GIS - Free Report) closed at $69.85 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.06% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.63% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.67%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.15%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and other packaged foods had gained 0.59% over the past month. This has outpaced the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.25% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 0.89% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from General Mills as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.01, up 10.99% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.8 billion, up 6.04% from the year-ago period.

GIS's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.83 per share and revenue of $18.9 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.06% and +4.26%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for General Mills should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for 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.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.07% lower within the past month. General Mills is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, General Mills currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.25. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.1.

It is also worth noting that GIS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.43. 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 2.51 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 179, which puts it in the bottom 29% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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