Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 30,595 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 443.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,595 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 101.5% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the first quarter worth about $34,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 416.7% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group cut their price target on General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $46.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.43. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $45.80 and a one year high of $67.40.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

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.