Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,771 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 434.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,473,000 after purchasing an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 8.1% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,814,000 after purchasing an additional 741,432 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in General Mills by 4.8% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,588,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,173,000 after purchasing an additional 393,135 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in General Mills by 4.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,161,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,213,000 after purchasing an additional 315,375 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in General Mills by 10.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,986,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,674,000 after purchasing an additional 634,393 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:GIS opened at $47.42 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of -0.03. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $47.27 and a one year high of $68.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on GIS shares. Zacks Research raised General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

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.