Norden Group LLC Makes New Investment in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 75,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,258,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 17.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,220,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,099,000 after buying an additional 328,585 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in General Mills by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 253,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,215,000 after acquiring an additional 21,299 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in General Mills by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 244,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,648,000 after acquiring an additional 15,707 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 533.6% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $390,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GIS. Citigroup decreased their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Stock Down 0.2 %

General Mills stock opened at $63.07 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $77.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.76%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.