General Mills Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GIS)

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 10,534 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 79% compared to the typical volume of 5,893 call options.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $46.70 on Friday. General Mills has a 1 year low of $45.15 and a 1 year high of $67.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.75. The firm has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of -0.07.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 46.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Zacks Research raised General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on General Mills from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 101.5% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 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.