Independence Bank of Kentucky Raises Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 85.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,230 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in General Mills were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,202,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 113,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,374,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 12.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter valued at about $224,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $60.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $33.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.99 and a 200-day moving average of $67.33.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.