Associated Banc Corp Sells 8,564 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Associated Banc Corp lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,744 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,564 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 57,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,411,000 after acquiring an additional 5,080 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 236,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,127,000 after purchasing an additional 25,633 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 8.4% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 25,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of General Mills by 45.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 696,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,650,000 after purchasing an additional 216,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 27.5% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 21,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GIS. Barclays lowered their target price on General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.82.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $46.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.43. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.80 and a fifty-two week high of $67.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.12%.

General Mills Company 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.