Cardinal Capital Management Raises Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120,288 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,359 shares during the quarter. General Mills makes up approximately 1.2% of Cardinal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE GIS opened at $58.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.85 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.87.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

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.