HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 241,567 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 14.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,867,515 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 241,567 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.34% of General Mills worth $137,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors raised its position in General Mills by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $67.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.47. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.47 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.67.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $717,640.33. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 128,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,571,314.96. This represents a 6.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Profile

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.