General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,819 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of 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, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.06.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $64.53 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.33 and a 200-day moving average of $66.00. The firm has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.