Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,839 shares of the company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in General Mills by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Security National Bank of SO Dak lifted its stake in General Mills by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Down 1.2%

GIS opened at $50.94 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.86 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.31. The company has a market cap of $27.63 billion and a PE ratio of 12.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

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.