Trust Co. of Vermont Trims Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Trust Co. of Vermont decreased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,681 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in General Mills by 69.2% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $50.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.02. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.19 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

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.