Blair William & Co. IL Sells 6,071 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in General Mills by 4.8%, selling 6,071 shares, leaving it with 121,199 shares valued at $7.25 million.
• General Mills recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.60 to $0.61 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 5.0% and a payout ratio of 59.51%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on General Mills, with ten hold ratings, four buy ratings, and two sell ratings; the consensus price target is set at $59.73.

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,199 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,071 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in General Mills were worth $7,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 69.2% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.80. 3,781,604 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,367,337. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.59 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $51.90 and its 200-day moving average is $55.99. The firm 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 (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. General Mills's payout ratio is 59.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. UBS Group lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

General Mills Company 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.