Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 39,187 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 67.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,187 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in General Mills by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays reduced 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 report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $51.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $49.65 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.59 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $26.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. 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 yield of 4.9%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

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.