First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 836,286 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 30.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,591,408 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 836,286 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in General Mills were worth $133,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new position in General Mills in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 139.8% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in General Mills during the first quarter valued at $27,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut General Mills from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded General Mills from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $39.16.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $342,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,002 shares in the company, valued at $2,947,288.54. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $275,827.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 62,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,148,763.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $35.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -198.01 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.91 and a 200 day moving average of $38.74. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.75 and a fifty-two week high of $51.36.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.59 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.37% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. General Mills has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.000-3.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,355.56%.

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.