Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 1,319 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 70,330 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $59.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.96 and a 200 day moving average of $64.39.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

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.