Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,553 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE GIS opened at $60.37 on Monday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.45. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.94 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $33.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.