U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $294,000 in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,211,000 after buying an additional 85,612 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after buying an additional 46,536 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,749,000 after buying an additional 5,853 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $486,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of GIS stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.60. 4,847,039 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,704,335. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.86 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $27.99 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. 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 4.73%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

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.