Certuity LLC Buys New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Certuity LLC purchased a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 9,143.2% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 13,532 shares during the period. CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter valued at $239,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of General Mills by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 543,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,143,000 after purchasing an additional 26,453 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 12,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 12,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $937,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.85 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.99.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho decreased their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.13.

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 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.