General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Short Interest Update

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,880,000 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the August 31st total of 16,520,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $717,640.33. Following the sale, the insider now owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at $9,571,314.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $717,640.33. Following the sale, the insider now owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at $9,571,314.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 199.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 409.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 66.3% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in General Mills by 769.2% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Up 1.0 %

General Mills stock opened at $74.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. General Mills has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.98.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho decreased their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.73.

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.