Bessemer Group Inc. Has $8.61 Million Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,965 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $8,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $57.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.44. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GIS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company 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.