General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stake Decreased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 71,253 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,175 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 46.7% during the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE GIS opened at $59.35 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.94 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $32.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.51.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

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.