Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 35,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 107.4% in the second quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GIS. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Up 0.7 %

General Mills stock opened at $67.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89. The firm has a market cap of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.