Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 20,576 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 226% compared to the average volume of 6,319 put options.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.15, for a total transaction of $72,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 48,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,549.20. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 255.8% during the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 59,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 42,986 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $417,508,000. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,445,000 after acquiring an additional 24,688 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,913 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 22.6% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 383,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,889,000 after purchasing an additional 70,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GIS. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $54.00 target price on General Mills and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $63.00 price target on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.28.

Key General Mills News

Here are the key news stories impacting General Mills this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company highlights its “Accelerate” strategy and management (CEO Jeff Harmening, CFO Kofi Bruce) presented progress and plans to drive sustainable growth at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference — this frames management action and long‑term plan, which could reassure some investors. BusinessWire: CAGNY
• Neutral Sentiment: Full transcript of the CAGNY presentation is available for investors to review management’s details, assumptions and Q&A (useful for modeling scenarios and guidance drivers). Seeking Alpha: CAGNY Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains broadly cautious — the consensus broker rating is around “Hold,” so analyst sentiment hasn’t swung to outright bullish despite the update. American Banking News: Brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: General Mills slashed its FY2026 organic net sales outlook to a decline of 1.5%–2% (from prior -1% to +1%), citing weaker consumer demand; that downgrade is the main driver of the stock drop. Proactive: Shares Slide on Slashed 2026 Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Management cut FY2026 EPS guidance to roughly $3.37–$3.54 versus the street at ~3.66, signaling lower near‑term profitability expectations and fueling downside pressure. Seeking Alpha: Guidance Lower
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters and WSJ coverage note weaker consumer sentiment and promotion-driven buying patterns that are trimming sales and margins — broad media confirmation increases investor concern about demand trends. Reuters: Cuts Forecast WSJ: Cuts Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Restructuring and related costs are rising (reports cite roughly $165M), pressuring near-term margins and cash flow and adding to the negative reaction. Benzinga: Restructuring Costs

General Mills Stock Down 8.3%

Shares of General Mills stock traded down $4.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.33. 16,707,987 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,508,896. The stock has a market cap of $23.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54 and a beta of -0.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $42.78 and a fifty-two week high of $67.35.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 17th. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 13.51%.General Mills’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. General Mills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.580-3.790 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.47%.

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.