Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $560,000 Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,782 shares of the company’s stock after selling 679 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in General Mills were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE GIS opened at $59.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $57.94 and a one year high of $75.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. TD Cowen lowered their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.