Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $250,000 Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,916 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 3.3% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 6,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GIS stock opened at $61.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $33.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.43. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, 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 at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIS. Mizuho lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lowered their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.06.

About General Mills

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.