Flputnam Investment Management Co. Increases Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 36.6% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 29,664 shares, bringing its total to 110,745 shares valued at $6.62 million.
• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. significantly boosted its stake in General Mills by 434.8%, now owning 19,041,194 shares worth $1.14 billion, while overall, 75.71% of the stock is held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• General Mills recently reported an EPS of $0.74, exceeding expectations, but its revenue fell 3.3% year-over-year, which has led to various analysts adjusting their price targets for the stock.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 36.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 110,745 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,664 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $6,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 7.3% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,576 shares of the company's stock worth $31,245,000 after acquiring an additional 35,494 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.8% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 452,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,076,000 after buying an additional 32,628 shares during the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,610,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 126.1% during the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 774,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,285,000 after buying an additional 431,693 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America cut their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.13.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.52. 5,351,840 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,606,022. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $50.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.60. The stock has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.02. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.29 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%.The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. General Mills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.580-3.790 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

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.