Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 11,906 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 44% compared to the average volume of 8,240 put options.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $33.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of -0.02. General Mills has a one year low of $32.79 and a one year high of $55.35.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts expect that General Mills will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total transaction of $342,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 86,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,947,288.54. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $275,827.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 62,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,148,763.50. This represents a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LBP AM SA acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $2,639,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $1,320,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in General Mills by 1,824.7% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 895,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,628,000 after purchasing an additional 848,712 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in General Mills by 161.9% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 333,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,800,000 after purchasing an additional 205,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 7.7% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,445,000 after purchasing an additional 24,688 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on General Mills from $42.00 to $36.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Zacks Research cut General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on General Mills from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on General Mills from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $42.44.

General Mills Company Profile

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.