NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Has $11.82 Million Stake in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• NorthCrest Asset Management LLC has increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 2.6% during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $11.82 million.
• General Mills has seen significant activity from institutional investors, with 75.71% of the company's stock now held by such investors, indicating strong institutional interest.
• The company recently announced a dividend increase, raising its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.0%.

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 222,315 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,690 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $11,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 434.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,138,473,000 after purchasing an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 4,775.2% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,443,981 shares of the company's stock worth $205,916,000 after buying an additional 3,373,338 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at $92,717,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 6,607.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,171,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GIS. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Zacks Research raised General Mills from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.93.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $49.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.02. The company's 50-day moving average is $49.83 and its 200 day moving average is $53.99. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.29 and a fifty-two week high of $75.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 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 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.51%.

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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