Kovack Advisors Inc. Buys 852 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,357 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 852 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at about $428,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in General Mills by 17.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,220,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,099,000 after buying an additional 328,585 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in General Mills by 9.2% during the third 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 period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in General Mills by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 244,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,648,000 after acquiring an additional 15,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position 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 worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $63.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $35.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.09. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $77.63.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 54.76%.

General Mills Company 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.