Islay Capital Management LLC Takes Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 434.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,473,000 after buying an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,173,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,954,000 after purchasing an additional 170,587 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,814,000 after purchasing an additional 741,432 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.8% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,588,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,173,000 after purchasing an additional 393,135 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 4.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,161,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,213,000 after purchasing an additional 315,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $47.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.93. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.80 and a 1 year high of $67.40. The company has a market capitalization of $25.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bernstein Bank decreased their target price on General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

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.