Moneco Advisors LLC Acquires 39,620 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Moneco Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 39,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,274,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the second quarter worth $2,181,608,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of General Mills by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,672,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,344,000 after buying an additional 143,265 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,200,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,335,000 after buying an additional 58,608 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 41.0% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,140,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,099,000 after buying an additional 1,203,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the second quarter worth about $129,298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Deutsche Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, September 21st. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore set a $38.00 target price on General Mills in a report on Monday, September 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $36.24.

Recent General Mills Headlines

Investors following GIS have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: The new operating model is presented as a way to improve efficiency and support profitable growth over time. That offers a possible strategic upside, but it is a longer-term plan rather than an immediate earnings improvement. Can General Mills’ New Operating Model Drive Profitable Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary has described GIS as a potential bargain after a substantial decline in its shares. This could attract value-oriented buyers, but the valuation argument alone does not resolve concerns about the company’s growth outlook. General Mills (GIS) Stock Could Be A Bargain After A 38% Fall
• Neutral Sentiment: The restructuring news is the clearest recent company-specific development in these reports. The articles do not describe an immediate financial impact, so investors may wait for evidence that the new structure improves results. General Mills to reorganize operating model into three segments

General Mills Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $34.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.23. The stock has a market cap of $18.26 billion and a P/E ratio of -20.58. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.17 and a 52-week high of $49.59.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently -146.99%.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc. is a food company that develops, manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its products include breakfast cereals, snack bars, baking mixes and refrigerated dough, along with meals and pet food. Its brands include Cheerios, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and Blue Buffalo. The company traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, established in 1866. The General Mills name was adopted in 1928 by the Washburn Crosby Company, a predecessor of today’s business.