General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Plans $0.61 Quarterly Dividend

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.61 per share on Monday, February 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th.

General Mills has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 5 years. General Mills has a dividend payout ratio of 58.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect General Mills to earn $4.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.7%.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $46.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.68 and a 200-day moving average of $50.73. General Mills has a one year low of $45.80 and a one year high of $67.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $222,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,245,000 after acquiring an additional 35,494 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 452,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,076,000 after acquiring an additional 32,628 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in General Mills by 22.6% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 383,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,889,000 after acquiring an additional 70,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA acquired a new position in General Mills during the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.