Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Has $5.82 Million Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,980 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $5,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GIS. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. 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 Monday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.76.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $58.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.37. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $32.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

General Mills Profile

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.