First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Has $373,000 Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,722 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of General Mills by 48.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,051,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,111 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 257.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,061,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,954,000 after purchasing an additional 765,070 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 6,893.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 512,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,361,000 after purchasing an additional 504,816 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of General Mills by 55.9% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,141,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,071,000 after purchasing an additional 409,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in General Mills by 40.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,315,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,207,000 after buying an additional 380,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of GIS opened at $70.84 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $90.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.65 and a 200-day moving average of $65.58.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,726 shares of company stock worth $1,187,811. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.