General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Purchased by Railway Pension Investments Ltd

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 735,490 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,900 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd owned 0.13% of General Mills worth $51,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 60,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,912,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in General Mills by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 31,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,166 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $256,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $298,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded up $1.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.28. The stock had a trading volume of 5,271,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,484,521. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.77. The firm has a market cap of $38.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business earned $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. 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 55.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.82.

General Mills Company 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.