Viewpoint Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Viewpoint Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,564 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.13.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $59.37 on Wednesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.85 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

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.