Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,619,943 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 99,494 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.30% of General Mills worth $83,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Garde Capital Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 101.5% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Pingora Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 416.7% in the 1st 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, Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were 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 $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GIS. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $45.94 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.99. The firm has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of -0.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.60 and a 1 year high of $67.35.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 46.12%.

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.