General Mills assumed with Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

JPMorgan downgraded General Mills to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $45, down from $53, after assuming coverage of the name. The firm assumed coverage of 24 stocks in the food producers, food retail, and agricultural products sectors. JPMorgan’s top picks are McCormick (MKC), Albertsons (ACI), Hormel Foods (HRL), and J.M. Smucker (SJM), and it is most cautious on Beyond Meat (BYND) and General Mills (GIS). Food producers are dealing with pressure from slower center store category growth and market share losses while food retailers should benefit from the continued inflationary environment, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm adds that while agricultural products companies could be past the worst of their earnings pressures, an earnings recovery hinges on U.S. biofuels regulations that are proposed but not finalized.