Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Purchases 12,337 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,217 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,337 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock worth $4,376,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,508 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 136,895 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in General Mills by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock worth $514,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $496,484,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of GIS opened at $51.24 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $53.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $27.79 billion and a PE ratio of 12.50.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 58.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.73.

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.

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