Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,796 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GIS. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 9.5% during the first quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in General Mills by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 110,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,609,000 after purchasing an additional 22,626 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 1st quarter worth $152,000. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 17.1% in the first quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 3,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE GIS opened at $47.06 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $68.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $25.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.68.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 46.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Mizuho cut their price objective on General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.82.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.