Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,655 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in General Mills by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its holdings in General Mills by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 5,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its position in shares of General Mills by 0.3% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 48,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,370,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.82.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 128,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,073,328. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $66.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.51. The company has a market capitalization of $36.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $77.08.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 55.68%.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.