General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Sold by UMB Bank n.a.

Key Points

• UMB Bank n.a. has reduced its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 34.8%, now owning 15,695 shares valued at $813,000 after selling 8,362 shares.
• General Mills recently posted quarterly earnings of $0.86 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 6.8% to $4.52 billion.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61, representing an annualized yield of 4.8% with a payout ratio of 46.12%.

UMB Bank n.a. reduced its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,695 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,362 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,138,473,000 after acquiring an additional 15,480,835 shares during the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 315,375 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,986,128 shares of the company's stock worth $417,674,000 after acquiring an additional 634,393 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in General Mills by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,403,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,888,000 after buying an additional 414,768 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:GIS opened at $50.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.02. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $48.29 and a one year high of $75.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 46.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GIS. Bank of America lowered their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Zacks Research raised General Mills from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.13.

General Mills Company Profile

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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