Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.57 Million Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,228 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,144 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 400.0% during the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the third 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 period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 47.5% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,676. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.67.

General Mills Trading Down 2.3 %

GIS stock traded down $1.50 on Friday, hitting $63.21. 6,778,132 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,905,687. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $70.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.90. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.