Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,101 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in General Mills by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in General Mills by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the second quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $74.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.54.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.73.

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.