Hilltop National Bank Buys New Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Hilltop National Bank has acquired approximately $461,000 worth of General Mills, Inc. shares, totaling 8,894 shares, as part of its investment strategy.
• General Mills recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.86, surpassing estimates, but its revenue decreased by 6.8% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.8%, set to be paid on November 3rd.

Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GIS. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in General Mills by 3.5% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its position in General Mills by 4.6% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in General Mills by 0.4% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock worth $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. lifted its position in General Mills by 1.5% during the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. HSBC lowered their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.82.

General Mills Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of GIS opened at $50.38 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.29 and a 12 month high of $73.78. The firm's 50 day moving average is $49.73 and its 200-day moving average is $53.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.12%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% 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.

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