Wedmont Private Capital Raises Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,656 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in General Mills were worth $798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 409.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.32. 1,874,647 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,040,577. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $74.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.09.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 55.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.71.

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 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.