General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Sold by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in General Mills by 3.5% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 4.6% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 0.4% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.5% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $47.42 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.27 and a twelve month high of $68.96. The company has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of -0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GIS. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.82.

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 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.