NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- General Mills (GIS) - Get Report shares are up 0.67% to $52.40 in pre-market trading on Wednesday following the release of the branded consumer foods manufacturer's third quarter earnings results before the opening bell today and its announcement of plans to complete the elimination of 800 jobs by the end of this year.

General Mills' bottom line was hurt by a strengthening U.S. dollar in the third quarter as the company reported a 0.6% decline in net sales from the year ago period to $4.35 billion. It is the sixth consecutive quarter the company has reported a decline in revenue.

The company also reported a 16.4% drop in earnings to $343.2 million, or 70 cents per diluted share, from $410.6 million during the same period last year. Analysts on average were expecting the company to report earnings of 67 cents per diluted share on revenue of $4.3 billion for the quarter.

Along with the release of its financial results the company also announced that it would eliminate up to 800 jobs, mostly in the U.S., by the end of this year. Today's announcement follows January's plan to cut 500 jobs in Midland, Ontario, and New Albany, IN.

TheStreet Ratings team rates GENERAL MILLS INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate GENERAL MILLS INC (GIS) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins, increase in stock price during the past year and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• You can view the full analysis from the report here: GIS Ratings Report

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