Market Update (NYSE:GIS): Cheerios maker General Mills to label GMOs in U.S. products

[Reuters] – General Mills Inc said on Friday it would begin putting labels on U.S. products that contain genetically engineered ingredients, a move it said was forced by a Vermont law that will require food packages in that state to include such information on July 1. Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate blocked a bill that would nullify state and local efforts requiring food companies to label products made with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. “Vermont state law requires us to start labeling certain grocery store food packages that contain GMO ingredients or face significant fines,” Jeff Harmening, General Mills’ chief operating officer of U.S. retail, wrote on the company’s blog. Read more on this. General Mills, Inc. (GIS) , with a current value of $36.66B, opened this morning at $61.81. Shares have traded today between $61.36 and $61.81 per share and has traded between $47.50 and $62.07 over the past 12 months. GIS shares are currently priced at 21.60x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 17.97x earnings multiple. And for dividend hunters, the company pays shareholders $1.84 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.02%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 15 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.62 per share, which would be $0.08 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.02 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $2.86, which would be a $0.00 setback when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $4.08 Billion. If realized, that would be a 6.21% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Susquehanna Initiated GIS at Neutral (Oct 27, 2015). Previously, Morgan Stanley upgraded GIS from Underweight to Equal-Weight. Given all the information above, we should disclose to readers that the average price target is $58.69, which is 5.05% below than it opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:GIS) Similar Articles: Stock Update: General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) – General Mills Celebrates 150 Years of Innovation, Invention, Food and Fun Market Update: General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) – SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC Announces Investigation of General Mills, Inc. Market Update (NYSE:GIS): General Mills Issues Voluntary Class I Recall Of Cheerios And Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal Produced At Its Lodi, California Location On Certain Dates