Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Invests $456,000 in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,171,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in General Mills by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 688,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,177,000 after buying an additional 38,021 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 16.1% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 696,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,711,000 after buying an additional 96,712 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 13,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.82.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $66.98. 3,133,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,083,241. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.09. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $75.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.68%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.