General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stake Lessened by SageView Advisory Group LLC

SageView Advisory Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 57.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,005 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 921.1% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 59,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,853,000 after buying an additional 53,487 shares during the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 4,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 25,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $461,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,981,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,137,670. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $36.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.54. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $77.63.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 55.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America cut their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.82.

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