TrueMark Investments LLC Grows Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

TrueMark Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 413.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,561 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,638 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $57.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $31.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.93.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.75%.

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.