Clarius Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Clarius Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 123,599.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,076,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,723,000 after acquiring an additional 11,067,051 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,907,000 after acquiring an additional 75,902 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,249,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,169 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 5.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,995,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,608,000 after acquiring an additional 379,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 101.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,935,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,741 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC increased their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $66.20 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.14. The stock has a market cap of $37.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About General Mills

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.