Perkins Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Perkins Capital Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 33.9%, now owning 11,450 shares valued at $685,000.
• Various institutional investors have recently modified their positions in General Mills, with notable increases from Zurcher Kantonalbank and Valley Wealth Managers, highlighting active institutional interest.
• General Mills announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.77%, set to be paid on August 1st.

Perkins Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 33.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,450 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,875 shares during the quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in General Mills by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 588,267 shares of the company's stock worth $35,172,000 after buying an additional 18,210 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the 1st quarter worth about $258,000. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in General Mills by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 20,381 shares of the company's stock worth $1,219,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 58,887 shares of the company's stock worth $3,521,000 after buying an additional 5,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,867 shares of the company's stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Bank of America cut 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. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $49.15. 3,452,872 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,590,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion and a PE ratio of 12.00. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $48.59 and a one year high of $75.90. The company's 50 day moving average is $52.42 and its 200 day moving average is $56.40.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

General Mills 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.