Equitable Holdings Inc. Grows Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Equitable Holdings increased its General Mills stake by 47.8% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 97,765 shares valued at approximately $3.4 million. Hedge funds and other institutional investors collectively own 75.71% of GIS.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: General Mills has an average “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $39.16, despite some firms raising their targets.
• General Mills beat quarterly earnings expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.95 versus the $0.80 consensus and revenue of $4.61 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 6.0%.

Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,765 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,627 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in General Mills by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,246,997 shares of the company's stock worth $57,985,000 after acquiring an additional 144,631 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of General Mills by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 771,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,724,000 after acquiring an additional 222,602 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,195,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 140.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 87,060 shares of the company's stock worth $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 50,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Global Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,849,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GIS. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on General Mills from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Mills from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group set a $33.00 price objective on General Mills in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $39.16.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $40.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.15 and a 200-day moving average of $37.50. The stock has a market cap of $21.61 billion, a PE ratio of -224.55 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.68. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.75 and a fifty-two week high of $51.33.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.59 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.37% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The firm's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. General Mills has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.000-3.200 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is -1,355.56%.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc NYSE: GIS is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company's portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.

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