IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 6,394 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 6.2%, owning 109,812 shares valued at approximately $5.69 million.
• General Mills recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, representing a 4.8% yield at an annualized rate of $2.44.
• Various analysts altered their price targets for General Mills, with Barclays lowering it from $54.00 to $52.00, while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a "sell" to a "hold" rating.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,812 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,394 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in General Mills were worth $5,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,245,000 after purchasing an additional 35,494 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 452,844 shares of the company's stock worth $27,076,000 after acquiring an additional 32,628 shares during the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,610,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in General Mills by 126.1% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 774,134 shares of the company's stock worth $46,285,000 after purchasing an additional 431,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.82.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.50. 2,264,365 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,697,129. The company's 50 day moving average price is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.29 and a 52 week high of $74.98. The firm has a market cap of $26.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.02.

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. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

General Mills 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.