Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Lowers Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. lessened its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS – Get Rating) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GIS. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. NuWave Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Herold Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its position in General Mills by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TAP Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 73.72% of the company’s stock.

General Mills stock traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $71.56. 107,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,870,155. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.52. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $56.67 and a one year high of $71.30.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.55 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.10% and a net margin of 12.36%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 7th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 54.40%.

In other news, insider Shawn P. Ogrady sold 27,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $1,887,411.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 87,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,085,003. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $748,603.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,878 shares in the company, valued at $2,324,369.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Several research firms have recently commented on GIS. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “action list buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on General Mills from $51.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on General Mills in a report on Wednesday, December 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.09.

General Mills Company Profile (Get Rating)

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers 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 salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.

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