NorthRock Partners LLC Sells 2,965 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

NorthRock Partners LLC lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 39.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,541 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,965 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the first quarter worth $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 4,775.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,443,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,338 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in General Mills by 115.2% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,817,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in General Mills by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $48.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.24 and its 200-day moving average is $56.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $26.55 billion and a P/E ratio of 11.94. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.59 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This is an increase 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 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America decreased their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.73.

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.