GWN Securities Inc. Purchases New Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GIS. Mizuho reduced their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.71.

General Mills Stock Up 2.4 %

GIS opened at $61.01 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % 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.

About General Mills

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.