Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,596 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,615 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in General Mills were worth $11,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock worth $53,211,000 after buying an additional 85,612 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after buying an additional 46,536 shares during the period. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $547,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

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General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.90. 2,341,461 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,403,089. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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 target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.69.

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.