Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys 11,039 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 143,616 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,039 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 101.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Pingora Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 416.7% in the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the first quarter worth about $41,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. HSBC dropped their price target on General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

General Mills Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:GIS opened at $47.20 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.80 and a 12 month high of $67.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.35 and its 200 day moving average is $50.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

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.