West Tower Group LLC Buys New Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the third quarter worth approximately $243,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in General Mills by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,186 shares of the company's stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 130,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 44.8% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 6.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,028 shares of the company's stock worth $3,325,000 after buying an additional 2,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. Barclays dropped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.53.

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General Mills Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.78. 48,560,704 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,110,811. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. 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's fifty day moving average is $60.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.23. The stock has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About General Mills

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.