General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Sold by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. decreased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,842 shares of the company’s stock after selling 832 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 8,643 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $49.37 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.29 and a 12 month high of $72.55. The company has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.03.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GIS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

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 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.