New York State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 45,235 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 438,299 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,235 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of General Mills worth $26,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock worth $4,376,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,508 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $923,907,000 after buying an additional 136,895 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of General Mills by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock worth $514,101,000 after buying an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $496,484,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $53.80. The stock had a trading volume of 9,182,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,633,524. The company has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.19 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.12 and a 200-day moving average of $58.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills Company 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.