General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Acquired by AE Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management raised its stake in General Mills by 17.0% to 404,693 shares (about $18.82 million), and institutional investors now own roughly 75.71% of the company.
• General Mills missed quarterly expectations (EPS $0.64 vs. $0.73 expected) with revenue down 8.4% year-over-year, and multiple analysts have cut price targets leaving the stock's average MarketBeat rating at "Reduce".
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 (annualized yield 6.9%, ex-dividend Apr 10), while the stock trades at a P/E of 8.69 and a market cap of about $18.96 billion.

AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 404,693 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,688 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC owned 0.08% of General Mills worth $18,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the second quarter valued at approximately $84,862,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in General Mills by 82.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,415,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,993 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 22.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,913 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in General Mills by 15.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,956,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $494,548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 13.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,664,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,469,000 after purchasing an additional 883,150 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded General Mills from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on General Mills from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $43.44.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock opened at $35.53 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $40.79 and its 200-day moving average is $44.76. The company has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.36. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.04 and a 12 month high of $58.45.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.66%.

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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