Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 10,677 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,838 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,677 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,634,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,691,000 after buying an additional 19,290 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 108,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,011,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at about $403,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 138.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 37,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,000 after purchasing an additional 21,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 19.0% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after buying an additional 4,528 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $57.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $31.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.69.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.69.

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.