Granite Investment Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Granite Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 23,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 6,255 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 286,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,676,000 after purchasing an additional 39,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in General Mills by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $74.51 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.51.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.73.

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.