General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by Contravisory Investment Management Inc.

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 92,188 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares during the period. General Mills comprises approximately 1.9% of Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in General Mills by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 6,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. WJ Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 2,335 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Resource Group purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth $2,782,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.31% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $65.82. 1,642,447 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,498,967. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.46. The firm has a market cap of $38.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.24. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.70 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 28th. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.91% and a return on equity of 24.47%. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 7th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 54.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.11.

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