DAVENPORT & Co LLC Cuts Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 776 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 46.7% in the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $58.98 on Wednesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $32.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.87 and a 200-day moving average of $67.30.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company 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 company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills 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 sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GIS. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.94.

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.