Optimist Retirement Group LLC Buys 8,523 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,078 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,523 shares during the quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $1,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 69.2% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter worth $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 1,096.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 598 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America cut their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Down 0.3%

GIS opened at $50.13 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.23. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.62 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.