General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Sold by Whittier Trust Co.

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 42.6%, owning 8,553 shares worth $443,000 after selling 6,347 shares during the second quarter.
• General Mills reported a $0.86 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, but experienced a 6.8% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61, with a dividend yield of 5.1%, set to be paid on November 3rd.

Whittier Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 42.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,553 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,347 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 101.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 416.7% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 620 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE GIS opened at $47.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $49.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.06. The company has a market capitalization of $25.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.03. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.48 and a 12 month high of $69.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 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 company's revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. 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 report on Friday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.82.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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