Oak Thistle LLC Acquires New Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 7,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth $44,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,541 shares of company stock worth $3,321,170. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $59.21 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.58. The company has a market cap of $32.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $57.94 and a one year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen cut 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

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 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.