Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Acquires New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 199.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 409.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded up $1.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.28. 5,271,531 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,484,521. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.66. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.77. The firm has a market cap of $38.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Mizuho lowered their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.82.

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