General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Bought by Ascent Group LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 6.2%, holding a total of 98,197 shares valued at approximately $5.09 million.
• General Mills recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.44 and a yield of 4.8%.
• General Mills reported a $0.86 EPS for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations, although revenue decreased by 6.8% year-over-year.

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,197 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,754 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $5,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 434.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,138,473,000 after buying an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company's stock worth $589,814,000 after buying an additional 741,432 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,161,951 shares of the company's stock worth $428,213,000 after buying an additional 315,375 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,986,128 shares of the company's stock worth $417,674,000 after buying an additional 634,393 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,403,879 shares of the company's stock worth $382,888,000 after buying an additional 414,768 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $50.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.05. The stock has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.03. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.29 and a 52-week high of $73.78.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 46.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GIS. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.82.

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.

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