Allianz SE Purchases 8,906 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Allianz SE increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 76.4%, acquiring an additional 8,906 shares to total 20,556 shares valued at approximately $1.23 million.
• General Mills recently reported $4.56 billion in revenue for the quarter, slightly below analyst expectations, while earnings per share came in at $0.74, exceeding estimates of $0.72.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, representing a 5.0% yield and up from the previous dividend of $0.60.

Allianz SE lifted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 76.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,556 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,906 shares during the quarter. Allianz SE's holdings in General Mills were worth $1,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. 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 acquiring an additional 46,536 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in General Mills by 7.3% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,245,000 after purchasing an additional 35,494 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $3,610,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 126.1% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 774,134 shares of the company's stock worth $46,285,000 after acquiring an additional 431,693 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE GIS opened at $48.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.59 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GIS. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.