Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 5,230 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in General Mills by 3.5%, owning 143,631 shares valued at approximately $8.59 million after selling 5,230 shares in the first quarter.
• General Mills has recently seen price target ratings adjusted by various analysts, with average target now at $59.73 and ratings ranging from "sell" to "buy".
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61, up from $0.60, yielding an annualized dividend of $2.44, representing a 5.0% yield.

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 143,631 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,230 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $8,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4,775.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,443,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,916,000 after buying an additional 3,373,338 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in General Mills by 115.2% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,817,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock worth $514,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of GIS traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.59. 1,929,091 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,567,226. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.59 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.99.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. 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. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.