Generic brands weigh on its sales

Article Excerpt

GENERAL MILLS INC. $69 is a hold. This consumer staples giant (New York symbol GIS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 564.5 million; Market cap: $40.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 3.4%; www.generalmills.com) is one of the world’s largest foodmakers. Its top brands include Cheerios (cereal), Pillsbury (baking dough), Progresso (soups and salads) and Blue Buffalo (pet food), which it acquired in April 2018 for $8.0 billion. Higher food prices continue to prompt cost-conscious consumers to switch to private label brands. As a result, General Mills’ sales in its fiscal 2024 third quarter, ended February 25, 2024, fell 0.5%, to $5.10 billion from $5.13 billion a year earlier. However, thanks to savings from a cost-cutting plan, earnings gained 21.2%, to $670.1 million from $553.1 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose at a faster rate of 27.2%, to $1.17 from $0.92. General Mills expects its sales for all of fiscal 2024 will decline about 0.5%. It also sees earnings per share…