General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 79,835 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,859 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $5,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 5.0% in the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc grew its stake in General Mills by 1.9% in the second quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $63.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.47 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.84. The company has a market capitalization of $35.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued 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 business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.67.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 128,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,571,314.96. This trade represents a 6.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 11.57 % 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 worth $4,657,676 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.