Empower Advisory Group LLC Increases Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 133,384 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,388 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $8,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in General Mills by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 98,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,273,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 62,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,810,000 after purchasing an additional 3,991 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its position in General Mills by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 6,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 85.0% during the fourth quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 6,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185 shares during the period. Finally, DDD Partners LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,776,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.13.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, 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 available at this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 2.2 %

GIS stock opened at $57.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.47 and its 200 day moving average is $66.81. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 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.