General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Holdings Increased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in General Mills by 434.8% during the first quarter, now owning over 19 million shares valued at approximately $1.14 billion.
• General Mills reported earnings of $0.74 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but experienced a 3.3% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, marking an increase from its previous dividend and providing a 4.9% yield for investors.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 434.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 3.45% of General Mills worth $1,138,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in General Mills by 3.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock worth $1,484,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.5% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.80. The stock had a trading volume of 3,781,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,367,337. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.59 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. 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 firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.51%.

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.