Enhancing Capital LLC Buys Shares of 14,900 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 14,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 183,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,725,000 after buying an additional 30,856 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,138,000. Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 7,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 14,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 119,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.71.

General Mills Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $61.01 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS 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 company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.