American National Bank & Trust Co. VA Makes New $936,000 Investment in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 13,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Folios Inc lifted its holdings in General Mills by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 89,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,259,000 after buying an additional 4,527 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 17,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 19,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,258,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $63.08. 2,521,769 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,734,770. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $77.63. The firm has a market cap of $35.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 54.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Bank of America cut their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays cut their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.