General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 55.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 636,761 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 227,297 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.12% of General Mills worth $38,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,211,000 after purchasing an additional 85,612 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 72,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 5,853 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE GIS opened at $50.51 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.26. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $50.19 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 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 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 firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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 research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday. 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

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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