Aberdeen Group plc Acquires 92,905 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 16.2%, now owning approximately 665,608 shares valued at $34.2 million.
• Analysts' ratings for GIS are mixed, with four recommending a Buy, thirteen a Hold, and two a Sell, and the average price target is $55.82.
• General Mills declared a $0.61 quarterly dividend with a yield of 4.9%, set to be paid on November 3rd to investors of record by October 10th.

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 16.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 665,608 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 92,905 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.12% of General Mills worth $34,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Garde Capital Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 101.5% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 66,593 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $49.37 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.03. The company's fifty day moving average price is $49.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.66. 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 $48.29 and a 1 year high of $72.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

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 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.

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