Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 610 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 92,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,909,000 after purchasing an additional 32,555 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 9,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the period. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $434,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 342,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,837,000 after acquiring an additional 8,565 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS opened at $59.23 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $32.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

About General Mills

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.