Motco Lowers Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Motco has reduced its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 12.3%, owning 45,010 shares valued at approximately $2.69 million after selling 6,315 shares in the first quarter.
• General Mills has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61, increasing from the previous $0.60, representing a yield of 4.77%.
• Recent analyst ratings for General Mills show a mixture of opinions, with three sell ratings, nine hold ratings, and four buy ratings, with a consensus price target of $59.73.

Motco lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,010 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,315 shares during the quarter. Motco's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,211,000 after buying an additional 85,612 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 7.3% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,245,000 after purchasing an additional 35,494 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $486,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE GIS traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $49.87. 5,919,162 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,684,597. 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 $27.05 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.56. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be 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 is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 price target (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.