West Family Investments Inc. Purchases 2,837 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 78.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,447 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter worth about $222,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 7.8% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 452,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,076,000 after purchasing an additional 32,628 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in General Mills by 22.6% during the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 383,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,889,000 after purchasing an additional 70,800 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter worth $439,000. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the second quarter valued at $267,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.82.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $47.60 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $45.80 and a one year high of $67.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.28.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The company’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.12%.

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 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.