Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $7.43 Million Stake in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,396 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,656 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 434.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,473,000 after purchasing an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,173,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,954,000 after buying an additional 170,587 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 8.1% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,814,000 after acquiring an additional 741,432 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.8% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,588,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,173,000 after acquiring an additional 393,135 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,161,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,213,000 after acquiring an additional 315,375 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $47.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04. 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 12-month low of $45.80 and a 12-month high of $67.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.83.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 46.12%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.