Stock Valuation: General Mills Inc. (GIS)

Name of Company Country of Origin/ Exchange Traded Sector Stock Price
GENERAL MILLS INC US/
NYSE
Consumer Defensive – Consumer Packaged Goods – Packaged Foods USD46.06
@ 27 Jun 2018
COMPANY PROFILE General Mills Inc is a global manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods, such as ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, refrigerated dough and other baking items, snack foods, ice cream, and yogurt.

General Mills manufactures branded consumer foods, like ready-to-eat cereals, convenient meals, snacks, yogurt, baking mixes, and ice cream, to retail and food-service customers. Its key brands include Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Haagen-Dazs, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, Annie’s, and Yoplait. The North America retail segment contributed roughly two thirds of sales and three fourths of operating profits in fiscal 2017. More than 70% of General Mills’ revenue is generated in the United States. The firm is poised to bolster its presence in the natural and organics aisle with its pending acquisition of Blue Buffalo, a natural pet food brand.

Stock Code GIS
Stock Valuation Below

General Mills Price to Cash Flow

When a company’s cash flow growth rate slows down, it will not command the same Price to Cash Flows ratios as before and they will have to be adjusted downwards.
Price to Cash Flow is an alternative method to value shares. This is because accounting profits can be subject to manipulation. Therefore, some investors prefer to value a company based on cash flows generated by the operating activities of the company. It also acts as a reality check to valuation measures such as Price to Earnings and Price to Sales. If a company generates high profits and sales but not operating cash flows, it could be heading for trouble because it is cash that pays the operating expenses. However, the Price to Cash Flow ratio of most firms are volatile and should not be used in isolation to determine the valuation of the stock.
At the price of USD46.06 as at 27 Jun 2018, General Mills Inc is trading at a Price to Cash Flow Ratio of 10.5 times last 12 months cash flow.  This is a 22.0% discount to its historical average Price to Cash Flow Ratio of 12.2 times.
Is the stock undervalued? One should not just look at one indicator to determine the fair value of a stock.
ProThinker believes in using a combination of valuation methods to decide whether a stock is over or undervalued? The five ratios we use are Price to Earnings, Price to Sales, Price to Cash Flow, Price to Book and Dividend Yield. We use multiple methods to value a stock because each has its benefits as well as shortcomings. Price to Earnings and Price to Cash Flow Ratios relate stock price to profitability but are meaningless when the comany has negative earnings or cash flows. Price to Sales Ratio is more stable because sales are never negative. However, this does not tell us whether the company is able to sell profitably. Price to Book Ratio gives us an indication as to how much we are paying for the company’s assets but it is not directly related to the company’s profitability. Dividend Yield cannot be used for companies that are paying little to no dividends.
While it is important to value stocks based on multiple valuation methods, this often leads to differing views on valuation. One indicator may suggest that a stock is overvalued while another suggest that it is undervalued. This does not help an investor who needs to make a definite decision whether to buy, hold or sell the stock. That is why we advocate the use of a Composite Valuation Indicator, which is derived from the best combination of the five indicators above. A Composite Valuation Indicator will give you ONE conclusion on whether a stock is under or over valued.
To find out more about our valuation methodology, click here. 
Source of Data: Charts are from ProThinker Stock Report. Company description, historical financial statements data and price data are from gurufocus.com. Estimates are from gurufocus and/or 4-traders.com – Thomson Reuters.
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