Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Reduces Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sabal Trust CO boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 7,817.6% during 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 during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 410,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,759,000 after purchasing an additional 86,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $71.17 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.39. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $90.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 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 firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

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