Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Purchases 5,981 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,461 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 120,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,359 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 6,867.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 20,395 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 133,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings 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. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 62,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,810,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $57.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.72.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.13.

About General Mills

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.