Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.9% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Sabal Trust CO boosted its stake in General Mills by 7,817.6% in the 4th quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 290,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,902,000 after purchasing an additional 286,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $70.82 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.45. The company has a market cap of $40.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $90.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,726 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,811. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GIS. Barclays lifted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.