Boston Research & Management Inc. Acquires 907 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Boston Research & Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,557 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. General Mills makes up about 1.7% of Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $6,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GIS. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in General Mills by 13.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 403,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,554,000 after acquiring an additional 47,239 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.6% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 126,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,979,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 31.1% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promethos Capital LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 129.6% during the second quarter. Promethos Capital LLC now owns 39,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,489,000 after buying an additional 22,210 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIS. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.73.

General Mills Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $74.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.92 and a 200 day moving average of $68.51.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

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 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.