Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 1,418 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Operose Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 214.1% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 107.4% during the 2nd quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $70.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.31. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.13%.

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