Welch Group LLC Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Welch Group LLC grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 690,718 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,175 shares during the quarter. General Mills comprises approximately 2.2% of Welch Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Welch Group LLC owned about 0.12% of General Mills worth $51,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 409.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in General Mills by 66.3% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors increased its holdings in General Mills by 400.0% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of General Mills by 40.6% in the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $68.83. The company had a trading volume of 149,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,872,397. The company has a market cap of $38.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.47 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.31 and a 200-day moving average of $69.17.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Mills news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,676 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

About General Mills

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.