Mather Group LLC. Boosts Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 389.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,267 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,918 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,545 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 209,730 shares of the company's stock worth $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 22,474 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 9,036 shares of the company's stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 358.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,982 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 3,114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.13. The stock had a trading volume of 3,595,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,652,483. The firm has a market cap of $28.82 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.19 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.93 and a 200-day moving average of $57.87.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. 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 4.59%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 58.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on GIS shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.