Joseph Group Capital Management Takes Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $547,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 72,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 4,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 5,853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock opened at $59.09 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

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.