Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in General Mills by 14.6%, owning 1,031,874 shares worth approximately $61.7 million at the end of the first quarter.
• General Mills declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing a 4.9% yield and an increase from the previous dividend of $0.60.
• The company's latest earnings report showed $0.74 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, although quarterly revenue declined by 3.3% year-over-year.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 14.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,031,874 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 131,283 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.19% of General Mills worth $61,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in General Mills by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 641,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,879,000 after buying an additional 50,987 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,858,595 shares of the company's stock worth $118,523,000 after acquiring an additional 153,825 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in General Mills by 91.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,000 after acquiring an additional 4,909 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in General Mills by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 177,596 shares of the company's stock worth $11,325,000 after acquiring an additional 19,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $27,609,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $49.35. 4,746,356 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,314,065. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business's 50-day moving average is $51.81 and its 200-day moving average is $55.87. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.59 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.