Providence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 297 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,938 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $59.65 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $59.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.86. The firm has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. 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.