KBC Group NV Purchases 9,455 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,464 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,455 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.07% of General Mills worth $26,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.94 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.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.