Enhancing Capital LLC Makes New $950,000 Investment in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in General Mills by 105.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in General Mills by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,082,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,902,000 after purchasing an additional 360,368 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in General Mills by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,004,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,385,000 after buying an additional 207,346 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $61.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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 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.