Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,334 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,171,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in General Mills by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 688,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,177,000 after acquiring an additional 38,021 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in General Mills by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 696,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,711,000 after acquiring an additional 96,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 13,043 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Stock Up 1.4 %

GIS stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,905,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,093,271. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $74.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.78.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.68%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.