Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 200 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $495,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 23,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.07.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $73.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.18. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during 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%. General Mills’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.68%.

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.