Aviva PLC Raises Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 817,846 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 63,536 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $52,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of GIS opened at $59.64 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.19.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four 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 $65.69.

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.