First Bank & Trust Decreases Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

First Bank & Trust cut its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,979 shares of the company’s stock after selling 538 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in General Mills were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $377,205,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in General Mills by 106.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,442,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,345 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 257.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,061,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,954,000 after acquiring an additional 765,070 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in General Mills by 165.6% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,049,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,381,000 after acquiring an additional 654,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 6,893.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 512,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,361,000 after acquiring an additional 504,816 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GIS. HSBC lifted their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $63.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $35.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.12. 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 50-day moving average price of $68.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.75. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $77.63.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

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

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.