Financial Contrast: General Mills (GIS) and Its Competitors

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) is one of 328 public companies in the “Food Products” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare General Mills to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares General Mills and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
General Mills	$18.30 billion	-$87.60 million	-20.44
General Mills Competitors	$7.13 billion	$712.67 million	-2,425.84

General Mills has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. General Mills is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for General Mills and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
General Mills	6	11	3	0	1.85
General Mills Competitors	2457	8309	8387	405	2.34

General Mills presently has a consensus target price of $36.24, suggesting a potential upside of 6.81%. As a group, “Food Products” companies have a potential upside of 16.86%. Given General Mills’ competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe General Mills has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares General Mills and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
General Mills	-4.89%	21.86%	5.85%
General Mills Competitors	-12.90%	-127.90%	-2.06%

Dividends

General Mills pays an annual dividend of $2.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. General Mills pays out -147.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Food Products” companies pay a dividend yield of 12.4% and pay out 29.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. General Mills has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

75.7% of General Mills shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.8% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of General Mills shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.4% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc. is a food company that develops, manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its products include breakfast cereals, snack bars, baking mixes and refrigerated dough, along with meals and pet food. Its brands include Cheerios, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and Blue Buffalo. The company traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, established in 1866. The General Mills name was adopted in 1928 by the Washburn Crosby Company, a predecessor of today’s business.