Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Has $3.52 Million Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 10.2%, owning a total of 58,887 shares valued at approximately $3.52 million.
• General Mills announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.60 to $0.61, representing a 4.77% annual yield.
• Analysts have adjusted their ratings for General Mills, with the average price target now at $59.73, reflecting a mix of three sell, nine hold, and four buy ratings.

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,887 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,450 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its position in shares of General Mills by 69.2% in 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 period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of General Mills by 1,096.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 598 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

General Mills Trading Down 2.3%

GIS traded down $1.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $49.87. 5,919,162 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,684,597. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.05 billion and a PE ratio of 12.16.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share 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%. General Mills's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.