General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Position Trimmed by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 71.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,629 shares of the company's stock after selling 136,871 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 214.1% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS traded down $1.85 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $67.00. The stock had a trading volume of 4,916,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,324,968. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.29 and a 200 day moving average of $65.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $38.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.