Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 3,250 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 54.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,230 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,250 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its stake in General Mills by 69.2% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIS. Barclays decreased their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.44.

General Mills Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:GIS opened at $54.47 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $52.39 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $30.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $55.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.50.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

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.