Mutual Advisors LLC Grows Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 126.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,712 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,973 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,211,000 after acquiring an additional 85,612 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 72,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company's stock worth $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 5,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $53.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.00. The company has a market cap of $28.82 billion and a PE 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 12-month low of $50.19 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three 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, the stock currently 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.

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