By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS – Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.
Insider Transactions at General Mills
In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.
General Mills Stock Performance
Shares of GIS opened at $58.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.88. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.85 and a 1 year high of $75.90.
General Mills (NYSE:GIS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.
General Mills Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.13.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on General Mills
General Mills Company 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.
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