Valmark Advisers Inc. Grows Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 11.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,674 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $459,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its position in General Mills by 69.2% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $50.74 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.66 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 13.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.81%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $61.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.63.

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.