General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. by 13.4% in the 1st quarter, owning 79,781 shares valued at $4.77 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes, with Charles Schwab Investment Management boosting their position by 434.8%, owning over $1.13 billion worth of shares.
• General Mills recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, marking an increase from the previous dividend and providing a 4.9% dividend yield for shareholders.

Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,781 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,451 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in General Mills were worth $4,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 434.8% during the first 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. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $514,101,000 after buying an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,846,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $436,606,000 after purchasing an additional 561,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 6.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,403,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,888,000 after purchasing an additional 414,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.65. 6,918,651 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,575,029. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.59 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $51.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.62.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. General Mills's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America dropped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

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.