Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 179 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,054 shares of the company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.06.

General Mills Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE GIS opened at $60.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.35 and its 200-day moving average is $66.09.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Equities research 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 Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

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.