Ieq Capital LLC Raises Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,940 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,565,000 after purchasing an additional 43,086 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,649,000 after buying an additional 104,436 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GIS. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.88.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills 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 approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $61.02 on Monday. 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 cap of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.53.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.93%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.