Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 47,582 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 87.3%, now owning just 6,905 shares after selling 47,582 shares in the first quarter, valued at approximately $413,000.
• General Mills reported a quarterly revenue of $4.56 billion and earnings per share of $0.74, exceeding estimates, though revenue showed a 3.3% decline year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, reflecting a positive trend, with a current dividend yield of 4.9%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 87.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,905 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,582 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in General Mills by 3.5% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 3.4% during the first quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak increased its position in General Mills by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company's stock worth $1,995,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,781,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,580,792. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.90 and a 200-day moving average of $55.99. The firm has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.59 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.