Wesbanco Bank Inc. Cuts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 73,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,576 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $5,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in General Mills by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 100.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,138,000 after buying an additional 2,368,563 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6,140.4% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,807,000 after buying an additional 930,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the first quarter worth $36,177,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $70.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.47 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $72.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $717,640.33. Following the sale, the insider now owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at $9,571,314.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at $9,571,314.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

General Mills Company 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.