General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 7.8% during the first quarter, now holding 452,844 shares worth approximately $27 million.
• Research analysts show mixed sentiments about General Mills, with price targets ranging from $51.00 to $59.73 and varying ratings from "buy" to "sell."
• General Mills recently announced a dividend increase to $0.61 per share, representing an annual yield of 5.0%, demonstrating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 452,844 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,628 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.08% of General Mills worth $27,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. World Investment Advisors increased its position in General Mills by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 3,695 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 641,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,879,000 after buying an additional 50,987 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 13,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its position in General Mills by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 546,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,860,000 after buying an additional 162,495 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GIS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,781,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,367,337. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of -0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.99. 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 52-week low of $48.59 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

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