Sawyer & Company Inc Sells 810 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sawyer & Company Inc decreased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 57.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 810 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in General Mills were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 214.1% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,275,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 142.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 142,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,096,000 after buying an additional 83,565 shares in the last quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank boosted its stake in General Mills by 113.3% during the third quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 11,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $766,000 after acquiring an additional 6,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $428,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $63.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.75. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $77.63. The firm has a market cap of $35.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.12.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s payout ratio is 54.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GIS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.44.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.