AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Takes Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs has invested approximately $1.32 million in General Mills, acquiring 21,997 shares of the company's stock.
• General Mills recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.61 per share, reflecting a 4.9% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 59.51%.
• The company's earnings report indicated a quarterly revenue of $4.56 billion, slightly below the expected $4.60 billion, with earnings per share of $0.74, surpassing analyst expectations.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 21,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,315,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 434.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,138,473,000 after acquiring an additional 15,480,835 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter worth about $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 4,775.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,443,981 shares of the company's stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,338 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter worth about $92,717,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 6,607.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,171,705 shares of the company's stock worth $70,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.41. The company had a trading volume of 15,033,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,807,454. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.83. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.29 and a 12-month high of $75.33.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.13.

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.