Associated Banc Corp Buys 486 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Associated Banc Corp raised its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,508 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in General Mills by 4.9% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 5.0% during the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. LCM Capital Management Inc increased its position in General Mills by 1.9% during the second quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $65.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.47 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.46 and its 200 day moving average is $68.59.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.