Foster & Motley Inc. Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

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Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,367 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,734 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in General Mills by 3.5% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 3.4% during the first quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company's stock worth $1,995,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,271,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,488,978. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.59 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

General Mills Company 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.