Moran Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Stake in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 237,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,034,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 53,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after buying an additional 14,994 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 404,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,818,000 after acquiring an additional 58,688 shares in the last quarter. Forteris Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $433,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $7,468,000. Finally, Fruth Investment Management lifted its position in General Mills by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 25,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group dropped their target price on General Mills from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on General Mills from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $45.00 price target on General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $43.44.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $35.53 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.04 and a 52 week high of $58.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.76. The stock has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 59.66%.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.