Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 423,563 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,561 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $32,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 245.9% in the first quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 573.8% during the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.31% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Down 0.4 %

GIS opened at $64.76 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $90.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.27.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 20th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 24.39%. General Mills’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 10th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. TD Cowen started coverage on General Mills in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.94.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.