ING Groep NV Raises Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

ING Groep NV increased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,563 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,936 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in General Mills were worth $5,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 6,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $61.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.56.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.88.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.