Norges Bank Takes Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,785,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,484,000. Norges Bank owned 1.41% of General Mills as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 1.0 %

GIS stock opened at $59.09 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The business’s 50-day moving average is $59.97 and its 200 day moving average is $64.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $32.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

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.