Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 557 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd increased 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 in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased 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 buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 1.5% during the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:GIS opened at $49.80 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.59 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

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.