General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Holdings Cut by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,444 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,026 shares during the period. General Mills accounts for 2.3% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in General Mills by 4.9% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in General Mills by 40.6% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 5.0% in the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.60.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $74.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.40. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

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.