Asset Planning Inc Sells 29,200 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Asset Planning Inc significantly reduced its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 96.1%, owning just 1,175 shares valued at $70,000 after selling 29,200 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have varied opinions on General Mills, with several lowering their price targets, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.
• General Mills recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.61 per share, reflecting a 5.0% yield and a payout ratio of 59.51%.

Asset Planning Inc cut its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 96.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,175 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,200 shares during the quarter. Asset Planning Inc's holdings in General Mills were worth $70,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $486,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $276,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in General Mills by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE GIS traded up $0.08 on Monday, reaching $49.02. 4,490,398 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,752,542. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $52.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.59 and a 12 month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

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.