Coston McIsaac & Partners Increases Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,758 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,630 shares during the quarter. General Mills accounts for approximately 1.5% of Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings in General Mills were worth $4,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of General Mills by 0.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,242,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,423,000 after buying an additional 23,400 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of General Mills by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,858,000 after buying an additional 501,717 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $377,205,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of General Mills by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,003,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,909,000 after buying an additional 235,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in General Mills by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,442,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GIS shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three 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 target price of $70.44.

General Mills Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.26. The stock had a trading volume of 13,274,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,473,323. The company has a market capitalization of $35.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.12. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $77.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.75.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 54.76%.

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