Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Boosts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,723 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS opened at $59.64 on Friday. 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 $32.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.26. 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 (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. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.