Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $9.95 Million Stake in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 9.2%, owning 187,146 shares worth approximately $9.95 million after purchasing an additional 15,770 shares in the second quarter.
• General Mills recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61 per share, reflecting a yield of 4.9% and a payout ratio of 46.12%.
• General Mills's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus target price of $55.82 and an average rating of "Hold."

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 187,146 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,770 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $9,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.6% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.4% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.5% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of General Mills from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.82.

General Mills Trading Down 0.5%

GIS opened at $50.11 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.29 and a twelve month high of $74.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.02.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $1.07 earnings per share. General Mills's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. 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 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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