Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 115,030 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia has significantly reduced its stock position in General Mills, Inc., decreasing its holdings by 64.8% during the first quarter, leaving it with 62,566 shares valued at approximately $3.74 million.
• General Mills recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.74 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, although its revenue fell 3.3% year-over-year to $4.56 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61, increasing from the previous $0.60, yielding about 5.0% on an annualized basis.

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 64.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,566 shares of the company's stock after selling 115,030 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in General Mills by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock worth $514,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,846,576 shares of the company's stock worth $436,606,000 after purchasing an additional 561,731 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in General Mills by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,351,735 shares of the company's stock worth $405,035,000 after purchasing an additional 509,268 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in General Mills by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,989,111 shares of the company's stock worth $381,926,000 after purchasing an additional 924,982 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of GIS stock traded down $0.35 on Friday, hitting $49.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,781,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,367,337. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.59 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $51.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.99.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GIS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

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.