National Bank of Canada FI Decreases Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 520,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,166 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in General Mills were worth $33,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $496,484,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in General Mills by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 3,504.8% during the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,023,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,353 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $59.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% 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 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.