Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 350,438 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,268 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in General Mills were worth $22,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 27.9% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in General Mills by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 11,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 2,115 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth approximately $262,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in General Mills by 3.2% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 21,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $59.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $32.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.61.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills 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 transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.88.

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.