Valmark Advisers Inc. Buys 3,462 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 106.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,712 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,462 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Operose Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 214.1% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $70.83 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.62. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills 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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.