Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in General Mills by 9.9%, now owning approximately 0.11% of the company, valued at about $29.7 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 75.71% of General Mills, with several hedge funds recently modifying their positions, including Merit Financial Group and Foster Group.
• General Mills recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61, representing an annualized amount of $2.44 and a yield of 4.8%.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 574,039 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 51,507 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.11% of General Mills worth $29,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 31,689 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 7,689 shares of the company's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in General Mills by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 18,987 shares of the company's stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at approximately $345,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.82.

General Mills Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $50.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.03. The firm's 50-day moving average is $49.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.05. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.29 and a 1 year high of $73.78.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. The company's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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