Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,164 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,666 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $12,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in General Mills by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,967 shares of the company's stock worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,178,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,994,000. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $427,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the company's stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,595,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,654,617. The company's 50 day moving average price is $53.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.75. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.19 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $28.30 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research 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 research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.