Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its stake in General Mills by 1.9%, owning 1,054,576 shares after selling 19,975 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have varied their holdings in General Mills, with a majority of approximately 75.71% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• General Mills increased its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61, representing a 5.0% yield with a payout ratio of 59.51%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,054,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,975 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.19% of General Mills worth $63,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in General Mills by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $514,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,483 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,846,576 shares of the company's stock worth $436,606,000 after acquiring an additional 561,731 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of General Mills by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,351,735 shares of the company's stock worth $405,035,000 after acquiring an additional 509,268 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,989,111 shares of the company's stock worth $381,926,000 after acquiring an additional 924,982 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.54. 482,205 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,557,301. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $51.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.06. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.59 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" 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 stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

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.