General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Key Points

• Prudential PLC reduced its stake in General Mills by 3.5%, currently owning approximately 312,333 shares valued at $18.67 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have revised their price targets for General Mills, with Stifel Nicolaus setting a new target of $56.00, while Goldman Sachs lowered its rating from "buy" to "neutral" with a target of $58.00.
• General Mills recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61, a slight increase from the previous $0.60, reflecting a 4.9% yield for investors.

Prudential PLC lessened its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 312,333 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,253 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC owned 0.06% of General Mills worth $18,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in General Mills by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.65. 6,918,651 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,575,029. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.62. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.59 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. General Mills's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.