Advisors Preferred LLC Makes New $432,000 Investment in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock opened at $58.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.94 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.46 and a 200-day moving average of $67.16.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.