LRI Investments LLC Makes New Investment in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 199.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 409.8% in 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 boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 66.3% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its holdings in General Mills by 769.2% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

General Mills Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:GIS traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.32. 2,548,167 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,574,117. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.53. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $76.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.09.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.68%.

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