General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stake Increased by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 121.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,257 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,921 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.52. The company had a trading volume of 3,368,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,407,216. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.48 and a 200 day moving average of $62.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

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.