General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,685 shares of the company’s stock after selling 973 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in General Mills were worth $426,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 46.7% during the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 2.6 %

GIS stock traded down $1.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.80. 2,398,606 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,917,763. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.69 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. This trade represents a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,624 shares of company stock worth $3,897,326. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.31.

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.