Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,512 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in General Mills by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.6% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.4% in the first quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GIS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.13. The stock had a trading volume of 4,325,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,729,648. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $27.19 billion and a PE ratio of 12.23. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.62 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company's 50 day moving average is $53.14 and its 200-day moving average is $57.12.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

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.