Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 79.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 143,291 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,456 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $9,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,347,000 after purchasing an additional 263,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its position in General Mills by 3.9% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,492,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,778,000 after purchasing an additional 92,931 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Barclays cut their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $58.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.14. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 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 firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.