General Mills, Inc. $GIS Stock Holdings Lessened by OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd cut its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 324,282 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,367 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in General Mills were worth $15,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1,094.4% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Trading Down 0.6%

General Mills stock opened at $35.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.04 and a 52-week high of $58.45.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 59.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of General Mills from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of General Mills from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $43.22.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.