Wedmont Private Capital Purchases 6,429 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Wedmont Private Capital significantly increased its stake in General Mills by 183.8%, acquiring an additional 6,429 shares for a total of 9,927 shares, valued at approximately $508,000.
• General Mills reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.86, exceeding estimates, but experienced a 6.8% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61, giving it an annualized yield of 4.8%, with a payout ratio of 46.12%.

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 183.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,927 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in General Mills were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in 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. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 101.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of GIS traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.58. 2,057,980 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,696,605. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.29 and a 1 year high of $74.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.56, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.02. The business's 50-day moving average price is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.62.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bernstein Bank decreased their price objective on General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.82.

General Mills Company 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.