Valmark Advisers Inc. Reduces Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Valmark Advisers Inc. decreased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at $51,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 27.9% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 434.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 20,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 2.2 %

GIS stock opened at $57.53 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho decreased their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.13.

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.