Fisher Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 39.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,666 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Garde Capital Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 101.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter worth $34,000. Pingora Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 416.7% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. HSBC decreased their target price on General Mills from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.82.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $45.97 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $45.60 and a one year high of $67.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of -0.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.12%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.