Rafferty Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in General Mills by 21.1%, selling 10,173 shares and holding 38,012 shares worth approximately $2.27 million at the end of the first quarter.
• General Mills recently reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, but its revenue declined by 3.3% year-over-year, totaling $4.56 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, with a new annualized yield of 5.0%, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 21.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,012 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,173 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research raised General Mills from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $49.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,406,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,596,368. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.29 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.02.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. General Mills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.580-3.790 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 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.