General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE has reduced its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 2.1%, owning 1,857,837 shares valued at $111,080,000 following the sale of 40,476 shares.
• General Mills recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61 per share, reflecting a 5.0% dividend yield on an annualized basis.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on General Mills stock, with a consensus target price of $59.73, indicating a cautious yet stable outlook for the company.

US Bancorp DE trimmed its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,857,837 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,476 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.34% of General Mills worth $111,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in General Mills by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 18,688 shares of the company's stock worth $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.4% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 36,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,181,000 after buying an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 39,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 6,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in General Mills by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 23,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,401,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,271,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,752,542. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.59 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $52.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm 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 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays decreased 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 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.