KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases 19,400 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 607,718 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,400 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned about 0.11% of General Mills worth $36,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 69.2% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1,096.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 598 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded down $0.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $51.01. 6,052,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,611,566. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.76. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week 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 cap of $27.67 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.44.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. 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 4.78%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.51%.

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.