Welch Group LLC Has $2.11 Million Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Welch Group LLC cut its stake in General Mills by 94.5% in Q4, selling 776,843 shares and retaining 45,437 shares valued at about $2.11 million.
• Analysts have pared targets and ratings on GIS — the consensus is a "Reduce" with an average price target of $43.44 after downgrades from firms including Piper Sandler and Morgan Stanley.
• General Mills missed Q results (EPS $0.64 vs. $0.73 expected; revenue $4.44B vs. $4.53B), its stock trades near $35, and it offers a $0.61 quarterly dividend (roughly a 6.9% yield).

Welch Group LLC decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 94.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,437 shares of the company's stock after selling 776,843 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 4.2% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 5,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO. boosted its stake in General Mills by 2.6% in the third quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 8,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 0.7% in the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 32,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on General Mills from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on General Mills from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered General Mills from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on General Mills from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $43.44.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $35.32 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $18.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.04 and a 12 month high of $58.45.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The firm's revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.66%.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc NYSE: GIS is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company's portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.

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