Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Lowers Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 9.2% during the second quarter, holding 64,824 shares valued at $3,359,000 after the sale.
• General Mills recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.86 per share, which surpassed analysts' estimates, despite a 6.8% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.61, marking an increase from the previous $0.60, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.9%.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,824 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,534 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Garde Capital Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 101.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $50.11 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.02. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.29 and a 52-week high of $74.98.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. General Mills's payout ratio is 46.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of General Mills from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.82.

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.

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