Advisors Capital Management LLC Purchases 17,804 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 254,185 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,804 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $13,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Garde Capital Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 101.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at $37,000. Pingora Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 416.7% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the second quarter worth about $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Up 0.3%

General Mills stock opened at $47.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.87. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.80 and a fifty-two week high of $67.40.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.12%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.82.

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.