General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Bought by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 11.6% in Q1, owning 259,107 shares worth approximately $15.5 million.
• General Mills recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.8%.
• The company's Q1 earnings per share (EPS) was reported at $0.74, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.72, despite a 3.3% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 259,107 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,893 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $15,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in General Mills by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.13.

General Mills Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.35. 4,362,416 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,593,153. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.29 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of -0.02. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $50.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The business'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. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend 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.