Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Reduces Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 606 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $58.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on GIS shares. TD Cowen dropped 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

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.