Fairscale Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Fairscale Capital LLC boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 871 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $64.53 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.97. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Citigroup cut their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, 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. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.06.

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.