HBW Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,124 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 22.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after acquiring an additional 43,086 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 129.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 105.8% during the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 144,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,697,000 after buying an additional 74,456 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.31.

General Mills Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE GIS traded down $1.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.49. 3,013,092 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,033,949. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.31 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.74. The firm has a market cap of $32.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,624 shares of company stock worth $3,897,326 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.