GWN Securities Inc. Invests $213,000 in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 274,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,524,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 148,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,493,000 after buying an additional 18,651 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $3,117,000. Finally, LBP AM SA grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 14,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $61.01 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.55. The stock has a market capitalization 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 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 (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.