Advisory Alpha LLC Acquires 1,541 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 17.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,320 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.4% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp grew its position in General Mills by 40.6% in the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 5,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.34. 279,650 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,127,916. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $77.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $67.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.09.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.