Capital International Sarl Sells 4,589 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Capital International Sarl lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,589 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after buying an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in General Mills by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,858,000 after purchasing an additional 501,717 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $377,205,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in General Mills by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,362,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,459,000 after purchasing an additional 369,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in General Mills by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,003,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,909,000 after purchasing an additional 235,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.32. 2,547,732 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,089,879. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $76.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.84 and a 200 day moving average of $66.51.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.82.

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