Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 243.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,333 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,992 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in General Mills were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,376,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,508 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $923,907,000 after buying an additional 136,895 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth 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 period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in General Mills by 18.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $496,484,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:GIS traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.13. 4,325,880 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,736,611. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.05 and a 200 day moving average of $57.03. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.62 and a 12 month high of $75.90. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.23.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned 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 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.