Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,815 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $59.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment 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, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.69.

General Mills 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.