Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Acquires 156,280 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 20.6%, owning 913,290 shares valued at approximately $54.61 million.
• General Mills reported earnings of $0.74 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, but its revenue declined by 3.3% year-over-year to $4.56 billion.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61 per share, reflecting a strong dividend yield of 4.9%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 913,290 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 156,280 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.17% of General Mills worth $54,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 434.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,138,473,000 after buying an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at approximately $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 4,775.2% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,443,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,916,000 after buying an additional 3,373,338 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $92,717,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.0%

General Mills stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $49.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,919,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,356,550. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.59 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.49. The company has a market cap of $26.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.