Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,503 shares of the company’s stock after selling 850 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 12,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $177,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its holdings in General Mills by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 23,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after buying an additional 4,732 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 32,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after acquiring an additional 6,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 186,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,912,000 after acquiring an additional 33,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.3 %

GIS stock opened at $60.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.15 and its 200 day moving average is $67.36.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.