Entropy Technologies LP Makes New Investment in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 143,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,138,000 after buying an additional 63,456 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 9,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $432,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $59.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $57.85 and a one year 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $62.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.09.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.