New England Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

New England Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,020 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the quarter. New England Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in General Mills by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. LCM Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in General Mills by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,555 shares of company stock worth $4,657,676. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $62.88 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.47 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.78.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.67.

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.