Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 10,604 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 141% compared to the typical volume of 4,398 put options.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.53. 8,365,798 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,732,294. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.81.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the 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 owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.7% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.13.

General Mills Company 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.