Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 78,204 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ reduced its stake in General Mills by 38.7% in Q1, now holding 123,751 shares valued at $7.4 million.
• General Mills increased its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.77%.
• Analysts have recently downgraded General Mills, with Goldman Sachs lowering their target price from $68 to $58 and several firms rating the stock as a "sell."

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ decreased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 38.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 78,204 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in General Mills were worth $7,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in General Mills by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 298,130 shares of the company's stock worth $19,012,000 after buying an additional 96,961 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in General Mills by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 50,147 shares of the company's stock worth $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 12,349 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1,053.1% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 2,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 369,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,539,000 after buying an additional 26,821 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded up $0.16 on Thursday, reaching $49.37. 1,948,569 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,579,582. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.42 and a 200-day moving average of $56.40. The firm has a market cap of $26.78 billion and a PE ratio of 12.04. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.59 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley restated 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. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.