Ascent Group LLC Raises Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,569 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,097 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 100.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368,563 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in General Mills by 6,140.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,807,000 after buying an additional 930,271 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 6,114.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 450,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,266,000 after buying an additional 443,202 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in General Mills by 6.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,151,000 after buying an additional 323,090 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in General Mills by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,347,000 after acquiring an additional 263,188 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of GIS stock opened at $66.26 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.47 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.47.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.67.

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.