Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Sells 300 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Significant Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $1,768,000. Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in General Mills by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 12,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 235.1% during the fourth quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 63,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,104,000 after buying an additional 44,200 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Up 1.1 %

General Mills stock opened at $71.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.39. The firm has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 54.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.