Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $12.81 Million Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,164 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,666 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $12,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock worth $4,376,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,508 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock worth $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 136,895 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341,137 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock worth $514,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,484,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock traded down $1.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $51.79. 8,130,036 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,666,402. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.83. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.19 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $28.09 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is 58.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on 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 objective on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho cut their price objective on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

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.