Apella Capital LLC Takes $524,000 Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $524,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 199.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 409.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 66.3% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.85. 2,905,277 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,093,271. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $74.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.78.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.