General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its General Mills stake by 591.1% in the third quarter, ending with 197,769 shares valued at approximately $6.36 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.71% of GIS shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $36.59, with four Buy, ten Hold, and six Sell ratings.
• General Mills exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.75 in adjusted earnings per share and $4.39 billion in revenue, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing a 7.3% annualized yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 591.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 197,769 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 169,154 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $6,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter worth $2,181,608,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,298,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new stake in General Mills during the second quarter valued at about $126,097,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in General Mills during the second quarter valued at about $121,707,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in General Mills during the second quarter worth about $105,889,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Barclays raised their target price on General Mills from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of General Mills from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $36.59.

General Mills Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $33.40 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $36.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.03. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.17 and a 12-month high of $49.71.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. General Mills's payout ratio is -146.99%.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company's brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie's, Totino's, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.

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