Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 4,234 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 120,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,234 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in General Mills were worth $8,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in General Mills by 4.0% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 13,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 937,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,285,000 after buying an additional 84,887 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at $695,000. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 12,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the second quarter valued at about $370,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 1.6 %

General Mills stock opened at $65.60 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.47 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.22. The stock has a market cap of $36.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,571,314.96. This trade represents a 6.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

About General Mills

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.