General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 14.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 3.4% in the first quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak lifted its stake in General Mills by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.50.

General Mills Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $50.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.02. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.19 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.36.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

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

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.