General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Director Maria Sastre Sells 1,000 Shares

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

General Mills Stock Down 0.2 %

GIS stock opened at $62.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.73. The company has a market capitalization of $34.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.47 and a 12 month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.67.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in General Mills by 7.0% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 296,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,893,000 after buying an additional 19,510 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth $1,442,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 10.0% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth $442,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 171,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.