Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 32,555 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 54.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,654 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,555 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in General Mills were worth $5,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. RFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America dropped their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.53.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS opened at $58.78 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.00 and a 200 day moving average of $65.17. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.75%.

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.